Shital Pati

Traditional fancy handcrafted sleeping mats, known as shital pati, are gaining popularity as home decoration and helping villagers in southeastern Bangladesh earn money from home and abroad.

The attractive designs of the mats, made of murta plants, easily draw the attention of people. Shital pati, which means cool mat, is very comfortable to use, especially in the summer heat. Murta, a kind of fine cane that grows in wetlands, is also locally known as mostak, patipata, patibet or paitara.

Many village women of Hatiya, Char Jabbar and Subarnachar in Noakhali, and Ramgati in Laxmipur are professional weavers of shital pati. Besides sleeping mats, they also make prayer mats and other decorative items.  

Morium Begum, 34, a mat weaver of Boro Kheri village in Ramgati, told this correspondent: “My husband is unemployed. I make shital pati and he takes those to the market. It takes at least a week to make one mat, with about 200 stalks of mostak. I sell each piece for Taka 1,000-1500.”

The income from the mats is enough to maintain her family of six nicely, she added. Morium Begum also said if she were able to set up a small cottage industry in her own house, many others would get the chance to earn money through weaving mats with her.

Another mat weaver, Kalpona Begum, said wholesalers from nearby districts come to Boro Kheri for purchasing shital pati, which are sold in the cities and even exported to Middle Eastern countries, like Saudi Arabia.

“Some foreigners give orders for better designs,” she said.  

In Noakhali, Laxmipur and Feni districts, more than 4,520 women from families of marginal farmer are earning their livelihood from making and selling their ‘cool mats’ across the country. If they get market facilities for their products on the river bank areas of the region, then they may successfully come out of poverty.

The writer is Noakhali district correspondent of The Independent.  

Photos: Writer

Shital Pati

Traditional fancy handcrafted sleeping mats, known as shital pati, are gaining popularity as home decoration and helping villagers in southeastern Bangladesh earn money from home and abroad. The attractive designs of the mats, made of murta plants, easily draw the attention of people. Shital pati, which means cool mat, is very comfortable to use, especially in the summer heat. Murta, a kind of fine cane that grows in wetlands, is also locally known as mostak, patipata, patibet or paitara. Many village women of Hatiya, Char Jabbar and Subarnachar in Noakhali, and Ramgati in Laxmipur are professional weavers of shital pati. Besides sleeping mats, they also make prayer mats and other decorative items. Morium Begum, 34, a mat weaver of Boro Kheri village in Ramgati, told this correspondent: My husband is unemployed. I make shital pati and he takes those to the market. It takes at least a week to make one mat, with about 200 stalks of mostak. I sell each piece for Taka 1,000-1500. The income from the mats is enough to maintain her family of six nicely, she added. Morium Begum also said if she were able to set up a small cottage industry in her own house, many others would get the chance to earn money through weaving mats with her. Another mat weaver, Kalpona Begum, said wholesalers from nearby districts come to Boro Kheri for purchasing shital pati, which are sold in the cities and even exported to Middle Eastern countries, like Saudi Arabia. Some foreigners give orders for better designs, she said. In Noakhali, Laxmipur and Feni districts, more than 4,520 women from families of marginal farmer are earning their livelihood from making and selling their cool mats across the country. If they get market facilities for their products on the river bank areas of the region, then they may successfully come out of poverty. The writer is Noakhali district correspondent of The Independent. Photos: Writer