Chamba Chappal (slipper) are traditional footwear which is unique for its artistic details and beauty from Himachal Pradesh. The striking feature of Chamba Chappals is the embroidery done on them. Chamba Chappals are a tradition that dated back to the times of King Charat Singh (in the early ninth century).
The traditional Chamba chappal was “nok-wali” or “nokdar” prepared from locally made leather embroidered with silver and gold threads on soft velvet cloth for ladies and gents. But the creativity of the artists has brought them to this point where they have about a dozen varieties to sell - Pathu, Slipper or V-shaped, fish-design, teen patti wali, ek patti wali, chandani and baloo for women and nokdar, bina nok wali sandal type and pathu for men.
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The origin of Chamba Chappals dates back to 1808. A Katoch princess, sister of Raja Bir Singh of Nurpur, protested against her marriage proposal to Raja Charat Singh (1808-1844) of Chamba feeling that people of Chamba wore crude shoes. Therefore, a cobbler from Panj Baria village of Nurpur (Kangra) was sent in her dowry to make beautiful embroidered leather footwear for her. The descendants of that family still reside in Chamba town and they are known by the name of Panj Baria.
The major raw material is sheep and goat skin, fancy leather, other leather, locally made ordinary sole leather, chrome leather for upper portion of slippers, silver and gold threads locally known as russi-tilla. The designs on these chappals consist of leaves and flowers.
There are two types of Chappals - one is plain footwear while the other is embroidered. The first are made by men and the latter are made by women. These are handcrafted leather-made chappals that come in natural leather as well as other colours. Traditional Chamba Chappals plain or embroidered, are exceptionally comfortable to wear.
In General, the embroidery is done on a separate piece of felt using brightly coloured silk yarn known as Chamba Kadhai and a hooked needle. Gold and silver threads known as Russi-tilla are also used. These embroidered felt pieces are then pasted or stitched using velvet cloth on the chappals. The footwear so made is not only beautiful, but also very comfortable and sturdy. The Chamba Chappals have leather/rubber sole to provide support while walking on hard/ hilly terrain
They are embroidered with multicoloured threads - red, black, green, yellow and blue, and imitation zari (gold thread). Apart from Chappals, you can also pick from a range of shoes, sandals, socks and belts. Today, in keeping with the modern trends, new varieties and designs of leather goods have been added to the traditional list like fancy shoes, sandals, shoes, belts etc.
GI Tag Registration Date : 14 September 2021
GI Tag Number : 614
Certificate Number : 403
Geographical Area : Himachal Pradesh
Special Cover Release Date : 06 February 2022
Cancellation : Chamba 176 310
Type : GI Tag Cover
Cover Identification Number : HP/02/2022
Cover has embossed images of Chamba Chappal and QR code provided at the back side of cover.
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Enlarged View of Cancellation
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