Kinnauri weaving inspired the origin of Kulluvi weaving, commencing the evolution of the area’s culture and heritage. In the 1830s, to escape being prosecuted by their village’s local monarch, a group of weavers left Kinnaur and settled in Kullu. They continued to practice their art in the valley and were rewarded for training the residents of Kullu with their techniques.

During the pre-independence era, industrialized clothing items could not reach Himachal Pradesh because of the inherent lack of transport. This led to local weavers using ‘patti’ to weave, a tweed that protects against the cold, rain, and wind. Patti was woven with wool from local sheep to strengthen the overall fabric and form a thick protective layer that could be used as a shawl. However, after India achieved its independence, things changed for the better. Weavers learned about new materials to produce clothes and raised flocks of sheep to keep up with the rising demand for better-quality shawls. Both men and women were trained from a young age to weave. There was no task the others could not do individually or paired up. 

Initially, only plain and dark solid-coloured shawls were woven, but that changed in the 1940s. A group of craftsmen from Bushahr, a town in Shimla, migrated to Kullu and introduced new designs in shawls. These unique designs included geometrical patterns, floral motifs, and the use of vibrant colours like pink, yellow, green, orange, blue, red, etc. Soon, this newly updated version of Kullu shawls emerged as a trend on the rise in the state. 

The process of weaving a Kullu shawl begins with the most basic and essential step - preparing raw material — wool,  for weaving. Weavers spin it using a spinning wheel to form bundles of yarn for weaving. 

Different handlooms are used to begin the weaving process, such as Jacquard looms, pit looms, and power looms. These old-age looms are traditionally used and require artisans to work the pedals. The weavers prepare the loom once the woolen yarn is ready to be used, beginning with setting up the vertical length of the weave. The yarn threads are untangled from their respective bundles and interlaced through a wire heddle. They are then rolled onto the ‘tana drum,’ a large warping drum, as per the design to be created. If the drum is too small, there won’t be enough material for the chosen method to be completed and vice versa. 

Next, the yarn threads are tightly strung onto the warp beam located towards the backside of the loom’s frame. As soon as this is done, the threads are pulled from the top of the loom and threaded one at a time. This is done through the heddles formed in the shafts and is adjusted as per the design. Subsequently, the warp yarns are transferred through the reed, which is attached to the beater, and twisted around the front beam of the loom. To begin weaving, a weaver should attach the weft yarn to a fly shuttle. This will make the horizontal width of the weave by passing the fly shuttle between warp yarns - creating the fabric.

The Kullu shawl is finished by tying tassels with the end pieces so that the threads do not open up and fray. Doing this is not as common as it used to be earlier since weavers use stitching machines to finish their respective shawls, so there are no edges to be tied. Other than tassels, woven strips of fabric are also stitched onto the borders of the shawl with a machine. Small and extended threads are carefully snipped off with a sharp pair of scissors as a quality check. The shawls are then finally sent to a large roller, where they are steamed and ironed.