The Charkha or spinning
wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or synthetic
fibres. Spinning wheels appeared in Asia, probably in the 11th century,
and very gradually replaced hand spinning with spindle and distaff. The
earliest clear illustrations of the spinning wheel come from Baghdad
(drawn in 1234), China (c. 1270) and Europe (c. 1280), and there is
evidence that spinning wheels had already come into use in both China
and the Islamic world during the eleventh century.
The
charkha, or spinning wheel, was the physical embodiment and symbol of
Gandhi’s constructive program. It represents Swadeshi, self-sufficiency,
and at the same time interdependence, because the wheel is at the
center of a network of cotton growers, carders, weavers, distributors,
and users. It also embodied the dignity of labor, equality, unity, as
all volunteers were to spin each day, and finally independence, as
British control of India was rooted in control of indigenous industries
such as textiles. The tabletop or floor charkha is one of the oldest
known forms of the spinning wheel. The charkha works similarly to the
great wheel, with a drive wheel being turned by hand, while the yarn is
spun off the tip of the spindle. The floor charkha and the great wheel
closely resemble each other. With both, the spinning must stop in order
to wind the yarn onto the spindle.
India
Post issued two commemorative stamps in denomination of Rs. 5 each and a
Miniature Sheet on two popular types of Charkha, Peti charkha and
Bardoli charkha on 15th October 2015.
Peti charkha is an
efficient, portable and foldable spinning wheel. Since the traditional
charkha was bulky and difficult to move, Mahatma Gandhi needed an
instrument that could be transported easily. During his imprisonment in
Yerwada jail, he had devised the portable spinning wheel that folds and
has a handle for carrying. It is compact and folds into a wooden box.
Bardoli charkha is a bigger size charkha in regular traditional form
which one gets to see in many weavers house. Gandhiji often mentioned
that his daily spinning was a form of meditation.
