Musiri’s ‘korai pai’ weavers yet to get in the groove

Business has been affected due to rising raw material cost

Up until a few decades ago, when sitting, dining and sleeping on the floor were the norm, the korai pai or grass mat used to be the chief furnishing in any Tamil home. Made with dried halfa grass that grows on river banks, the kora pai is washable and is available in different sizes. Gifting a new mat to the bride was one of the many wedding traditions in southern India.

The love for mats has endured despite the changing tastes in interior decoration.

“A properly woven korai pai can last for two years without damage. Since it is a natural fibre, keeping it in a damp environment can cause mildew; but if rolled and kept in a dry conditions, the mat is reusable with just minor wear and tear,” said S. Karthik, who runs the online section of his family-run business ‘The Grass Mats’ in North Theraniyampatti village, Musiri.

With an abundant supply of river-fed korai grass in the region, mat manufacturing has been a leading cottage industry in Musiri.

The Grass Mats unit has 11 machines that can weave up to 1,000 korai pais in a day. “We grow our own korai grass for the factory. And though only one worker is needed to oversee the mat-making machine, the rest of the process, from harvesting the grass, to splitting, drying and then dyeing it, are all labour-intensive. Getting enough workers has been tough during lockdown, but we are slowly getting back to pre-pandemic production volumes,” Mr. Karthik told The Hindu.

The mats are available in a range of designs and colours, edged with cloth basting that is manually sewn at the end. “The jacquard designs, which incorporate coloured grass with patterns of birds or flowers and are given as part of the wedding trousseau, are the costliest items in our shop,” said Mr. Karthik.

Business has not been as stable for mat weavers who rely on external grass supplies. “The cost of transporting the raw stock has risen so much that we have stopped manufacturing this year. A mat that sells for ₹200 may cost more than ₹500 to make when you add the fuel and vehicle overheads,” said a mat weaver in Mela Vadugapatti, Musiri.