Srinagar, Jan. 31 -- After years of being eroded by machine-made imports, political uncertainty and the slow exit of skilled artisans, Kashmir's carpet industry is repositioning itself at the very top of the global luxury market, betting on scale, rarity and exquisite craftsmanship.

In the ongoing bone-chilling cold, inside workshops tucked into the Valley's hamlets, master carpet makers move the loom forward inch by inch, knot by knot.

In one such modest workshop in Vailoo-Kunzar hamlet of Baramulla district, 30 kilometres from Srinagar, young and old artisans sit cross-legged on a packed-earth floor beneath a loom bolted together to carry an impossible weight. Silk threads fall in disciplined rows, catching the winter light, as their ...