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West Bengal’s handicrafts constitute legendary heritage of India. The exquisite handicrafts reveal the rich culture of the state. People from various parts of India as well as world are in craze of buying these artistic handicrafts. Amongst the popular handicrafts, woven mats, commonly  known as ‘Madur’ are the popular ones.

These mats are woven by the weavers of Midnapur district based in West Bengal. The mat is woven on simple frame loom of bamboo. The warp of the mat comes with cotton thread while the weft is a soft thin reed often termed as “Madur Kathi”. This reed is cultivated in areas like Sabong, Kholaberia, Sadirhat, Ramnagar, Narayan Chak of Midnapur district. Madur mats of Midnapore are of three types, they are ek-rokha, masland and do-rokha. Do-rokha is thicker than the ek-rokha as it has weft of double “Madur Kathi”. You can comfortably lie or sit on this mat.

Apart from the simple mats, the weavers are highly skillful in weaving finely textured mat which is known as Masland. These mats are made up of selected “Madur Kathi”. The Masland comes with two borders with artistic geometrical patterns in deep magenta colors. Sometimes the designs of these mats also come in self colors. Muslim women of Ilamhaza create palm leaf mats. The palm leaf mats are beautifully decked with attractive geometrical designs in green, magenta and blue colors.The Fan shaped leaves of the Palmyra palm tree are used in making big chatai mats. The flat strips of the leaves are woven as weft as well as wrap. The important centers where these chatai mats are made such as Bankura, Bhirbum, and Purulia districts.

Shital Pati is also a popular mat of West Bengal. The term ‘Shital Pati’ means cool mat. Shital Pati is a kind of mat that gives its user a cool feeling. The mat is made from murta plant which grows in areas of Cooch Bihar districts. The two most well known villages where this handicraft work is practiced are Pharsingpara and Goalpara. The weaving of these cool mats are done by skillful women. On other hand men gather the raw materials – mohtra reeds or green patidai from which the mats are made. The mats are also available in Belonia and Soonamura of Tripura.

These mats are of great demand in the market. People buy these mats for household purposes. You can comfortably relax yourself by sitting or lying on this mat.