Last updated: October 2026 · Method: trade research and recurring traveller reports; where-locals-recommend framing, no named-shop claims verified.
Carpets and rugs are the heaviest of Jaipur’s trades — hand-knotted wool and silk, durrie flatweaves, and the export houses that ship them worldwide. It is also the trade where first-time buyers are most easily overcharged, because quality is invisible to the untrained eye. This guide builds the eye.
📷 Image slot — a knotting frame mid-work, wool spools hanging. (generic craft shot)
The three families
| Type | What it is | Price logic |
|---|---|---|
| Hand-knotted carpets | Persian-derived knotting; months of work per piece | By knot count, material, and size — silk costs multiples of wool |
| Durries | Flat-woven cotton/wool, Rajasthan’s own tradition | The honest-value buy — reversible, light, ship cheap (the weaving guide covers the craft) |
| Tufted/machine | Gun-tufted or loom-made | Legitimate product, different price class — the fraud is selling it as knotted |
The eye-building tests
- Bend the rug: hand-knotted pile parts to show the knot columns at the base; tufted shows a glue-and-canvas back.
- Count knots roughly on the back — more knots per inch, finer the work, higher the fair price.
- The fringe: knotted rugs’ fringe is the warp continuing out; sewn-on fringe is a tell of tufted or glued work.
Buying and shipping
- Fixed export houses price transparently and ship with documentation — the honest route for serious pieces; the shipping guide covers postal alternatives.
- Lane shops work on negotiation — the bargaining method applies, with knots-per-inch as your justification anchor.
- Durries are the traveller’s carpet: beautiful, packable, honest-priced everywhere in the state.