Shitalpati (Bengali: শীতল পাটি) is a mat woven from cane or murta plants, originally from the Sylhet region of Bangladesh. The murta plant (Schumannianthus dichotomus) grows around water bodies in Sylhet. The main bearers and practitioners are weavers living mostly in the low-lying villages in the greater Sylhet region of Bangladesh, but there are also pockets of Shital Pati weavers in Barisal, Tangail, Comilla, Noakhali, Chittagong and other areas of the country. After the partition of Bengal, Shitalpati weaving was kept alive among Sylheti refugees in India, and eventually Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri became prominent centres.
Shitalpati is usually rectangular in shape which can be rolled up to put away. When spread on the floor or bed, its upper surface appears glossy and smooth while the inner surface is rough. The people all over Bangladesh use it as a sitting mat, bedspread or praying mat. Although made of flat, thin strips of green cane, its natural look is brown in finished form. The weaving pattern gives it a texture akin to a jigsaw puzzle. The weavers are known as patial or patikaar (meaning 'mat-maker'). Sometimes the cane strips are woven in a way so as to create motifs of birds, animals, flowers and leaves or other symmetric patterns.
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