Bangladesh · Weaving / Reed Craft
শীতল পাটি (Shital Pati)
Shital pati (শীতল পাটি — 'cool mat') is the fine reed mat tradition of Sylhet Division in northeastern Bangladesh — woven from the murta plant (Schumannianthus dichotoma), whose reed fibers produce a mat of extraordinary coolness against the skin because the hollow reed sections retain air rather than conducting body heat. A UNESCO-inscribed tradition (2017), shital pati at its finest achieves a weave density of over 100 strips per inch — finer than most textile thread counts. The defining technical knowledge is the reed strip splitting: murta reed is split longitudinally into strips as fine as 1-2mm wide using a thumbnail guided split — 'I split with my thumbnail, not with a knife; the thumbnail knows where to go.'
Risk level: Endangered · UNESCO Representative List (2017); GI protection for Sylheti Shital Pati
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