Chakki tables: from ancestral tool to decorative object

Chakki tables are for us, unconditional decor addicts, strong elements of a bohemian decor that we love. But few people know that these carved coffee tables were (are) essential in rural India for food... Indeed, these ancient tables were, in their previous life, the lower part of a grain mill! This mill was used to make flour, the main element of daily Indian bread (roti, chapati, naan, paratha), central to the diet of the Indian subcontinent. 

Arrives the technical part... The table supports in its center two stone millstones one on top of the other, the first being fixed and the other rotating, with a handle to operate it. First the person puts the grain into the hole in the center of the stone, then turns the grindstone using the handle, like in the video below. The flour is ejected from the sides of the millstone and is collected on the table. The flour obtained can be collected via a small opening on the side of the table. The fineness of the grain can be changed by adjusting the space between the two grinding wheels using a lever.

This mill was also used to prepare flour, but also lentils, oats and cottonseeds (used to feed cows in the villages).

Grinding grain manually is a very physical activity, due to the weight of the millstone. This is a task that generally falls to women in rural areas.

Tables can be made of wood, but also of clay, and more recently even of metal. We even found windmills lodged in a tire cut in half! 

Today, wooden tables are separated from their millstones, restored, and used as the decorative elements we know. Find our selection of old chakki tables on our e-shop!