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Charpai, Charpaya, Charpoy, Khat or Manji (Tamil :கட்டில்
File:Mini Khatoli.jpg, A small charpoi in Pakistan, 2019, showing structure.
File:Diptych miracles Christ VandA A.47 A-1926 (cropped to Take up thy bed and walk scene from John 5).jpg, An 800s European Healing at Bethesda scene.
File:Village Cot.jpg, Charpais as daybeds in
Charpai, Charpaya, Charpoy, Khat or Manji (Tamil :கட்டில் Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...
: चारपाई, Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the ...
: চারপায়া, : چارپائی, Saraiki, Punjabi
Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan
* Punjabi language
* Punjabi people
* Punjabi dialects and languages
Punjabi may also refer to:
* Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...
; ''char'' "four" + ''paya'' "footed") is a traditional woven bed used across South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...
. Regional variations are found in Afghanistan and Pakistan, North and Central India, Bihar and Myanmar. It is also known as khaat, khatia, or manji, and as manjaa in Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
.
The charpai is a simple design that is easy to construct. It was traditionally made out of a wooden frame and natural-fiber ropes, but modern charpais may have metal frames and plastic tapes. The frame is four strong vertical posts connected by four horizontal members; the design makes the construction self-leveling. Webbing can be made out of cotton, date leaves, and other natural fibers.
There are many interpretations of the traditional design, and over the years craftspeople have innovated with the weave patterns and materials used. The weaving is done in many ways, e.g. a diagonal cross (bias
Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group ...
) weave, with one end woven short, and laced to the endpiece, for tensioning adjustments (which helps in controlling the sagging of the bed as it ages with use).
It is mostly used in warm areas: in cold areas, a similar rope bed would be topped (with an insulating palliasse
A tick mattress, bed tick or tick is a large bag made of strong, stiff, tightly-woven material ( ticking). This is then filled to make a mattress, with material such as straw, chaff, horsehair, coarse wool or down feathers,Dictionnaire de l'ame ...
or tick, stuffed with straw, chaff, or down feather
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator a ...
s), and possibly hung with curtains.
In the 1300s, Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, largely in the Muslim ...
described the charpai as having "four conical legs with four crosspieces of wood on which braids of silk or cotton are woven. When one lies down on it, there is no need for anything to make it pliable, for it is pliable of itself."
Adapted charpais were used as colonial campaign furniture.
Gallery
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...
. Note diamond weave pattern.
File:Supporting people as they return home to still-flooded land (5331088320).jpg, Refugees from flooding, 2010
See also
* Niwar (cotton tape) used for stringing charpais * Rope bed *Klinē
Klinai (Ancient Greek, Greek for couches; singular klinē), known in Latin as lectus triclinaris, were a type of ancient furniture used by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks in their Symposium, symposia and by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans in t ...
(Classical Greek)
References
Beds Indian culture Pakistani culture History of furniture Punjabi words and phrases Desi culture Indian furniture Portable furniture {{Pakistan-stub