Charpai, Charpaya, Charpoy, Khat or Manji (Tamil :கட்டில்

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

: 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 w ...

: চারপায়া,

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

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 A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many b ...

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 A rope bed is a type of platform bed in which the sleeper (and mattress) is supported by a lattice of rope, rather than wooden slats. In cold climates, a rope bed would be topped with one or more insulating palliasse or bedticks, which would t ...

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'ameub ...

or tick, stuffed with straw,

chaff Chaff (; ) is the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds of cereal grains or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material (such as scaly parts of flowers or finely chopped straw). Chaff is indigestible by humans, but livestock can eat it. In agri ...

, 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 an ...

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 Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...

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 Campaign furniture is a type of furniture which is made for travel. Historically, much of it was made for military campaigns. Description Any furniture specifically made to break down or fold for ease of travel can be described as campaign furni ...

Gallery

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

daybed Daybeds are used as beds as well as for lounging, reclining, and seating in common rooms. It may be considered a form of multifunctional furniture. Their frames can be made out of wood, metal or a combination of wood and metal. They are a cross ...

s in

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 si ...

. Note diamond weave pattern. File:Supporting people as they return home to still-flooded land (5331088320).jpg, Refugees from flooding, 2010

References

Beds Indian culture Pakistani culture History of furniture Punjabi words and phrases Desi culture Indian furniture Portable furniture {{Pakistan-stub

Gallery

See also

References