Two-column Kula Prayer Carpet (seccade)

The arch resting on columns in the center of the rug symbolizes the mihrab, the niche in the wall of a mosque that is closest to Mecca, the geographical center of Islam. A lamp is often hung in a mihrab, as depicted in this rug. Prayer rugs are used in the daily prayers that form one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith. The rugs provide both comfort as the worshipper kneels, and ritual cleanliness as they isolate him or her from the surface beneath. Prayer must be performed in the direction of Mecca, and so the rug would also be oriented in the proper direction. Prayer rugs could be used in the mosque or the home, or even rolled up and taken on a journey. This rug comes from Kula, in western Anatolia. The small towns of this region had a venerable tradition of weaving prayer rugs in the late Ottoman period, with each town producing its own characteristic design.