Photograph — A historic 1867 illustration of Kashmiri shawl-making (representative photograph). Source image unavailable; caption preserved.
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Handloom Textiles · Jammu & Kashmir — Kashmir valley, Ladakh
Kashmir Pashmina
The world's finest cashmere wool, hand-spun and hand-woven into shawls of exceptional softness and warmth, sourced from Changthangi goats of the high-altitude Changthang plateau.
GI status: GI-registered, 2008
Shelf life: Indefinite
Women-led sector
| Category | Handloom Textiles |
|---|---|
| Region | Jammu & Kashmir — Kashmir valley, Ladakh |
| GI status | GI-registered, 2008 |
| Typical shelf life | Indefinite |
| Women's role in production | Combing the fine undercoat from Changthangi goats and hand-spinning it into pashmina yarn on the traditional charkha is work carried out almost entirely by women in both the Ladakhi herding communities that source the fibre and the Kashmiri households that spin it. |
Why this fits a low-wastage SHG model: A premium, non-perishable finished good; correctly stored pashmina holds its value and quality indefinitely.