Photo: A Piece of India

The Sri Venkateswara mat factory outside of Salem, Tamil Nadu is a place not many get to see. The factory provides mats to temples and homes all throughout India. They use japanese loom technology to weave the mats but much of the process is still done by hand. These men are dying the straw by dipping bundles into boiling petroleum based paint. Hard working men whose hands are stained by the colored dye they have worked with for years. We bought 20 of these beautiful intricately woven mats.