“Korai grass mats are poor friendly affordable sleeping mats”

The natural, eco friendly and exotic mats of Korai grass are produced mainly in Amoor area of Trichirappalli District.Korai grass is cultivated in this region of Amoor and its neibourhoods.Korai is a Natural Product - a sort of thick grass, grown locally for the purpose of weaving Mats. Mats are relatively quick to weave using power loom.  ‘Korai’ mat weaving, a multi-step process, begins with harvesting of the ‘korai’ crop, which is cultivated on a large scale in and around Amoor. The south Indian culture and tradition also includes presentation of korai grass mats with pillow to the newly married couples during marriage function. Korai mat is prepared from the korai grass grown in the Cauvery Delta. Kora mats are extremely reliable and can be easily folded. Kora grass grows abundantly along the banks of the rivers. The process of creating the mat is complex and painstaking. In its original form the grass is green in colour and normally grows to a height of 3-4 feet. The grass for the mats is cut very fine, while it is still green. The inside white pith of the stem is removed with a sharp-edged knife while the outer part of the stem is used for weaving. The counts of the mat depend on how many strips the grass is cut into; the greater the numbers of strips from each stem, the higher the count. The strips of grass are then dried in the hot sun. Sleeping on the korai mats gives chillness to the body, non burning sensation of the eyes while getting up in the morning, chillness during summer and warm ness during winter. Because of these rich and poor people use the korai mats. The raw material for korai mat weaving is the korai grass. In earlier days, it will grow near the river beds and tank beds. After harvesting, korai is divided into two: dried in the sun; after it becomes golden tinned, dyes are used to color the mats and then it is used for mat weaving. Many color designs are prepared by manual skills. Then mats became famous both in south India. “The harvested ‘korai’ is torn into two, dried and graded according to size before being sold to weavers. At the unit, the korai is machine-cut on both ends before being fed into a main machine where it gets stitched by the synthetic thread into closely spaced rows.   The produced mats have adequate marketing in Trichy City on whole sale and also retail basis.SEVAI Self Help Group members are involved in mat production and marketing. Mats of Korai grass are poor friendly. There are ups and downs in production of mats based on power cuts and also shortage of technical persons for maintenance of mat weaving Jacquard mats.-Govin