WindHorse Rugs is a business founded in a cross-cultural friendship and an admiration for the Tibetan people and their heritage. Opened in Grass Valley in May, 2002, the seed from which this enterprise developed was planted as far back as 1969, when a chance encounter between a young college student from California and a young Tibetan refugee making a new life in Nepal led to a lasting friendship.
The year after Tammis Vaatveit returned to California from studies in India, Kunga Chosang sent her three rugs from the workshop he had established with his wife in Kathmandu. Throughout the seventies, Tammis helped Chosang grow his business.
The friendship was sustained over the next two decades and once her daughter was grown, Tammis began growing her own business. She opened the WindHorse Rugs showroom to feature the quality and diversity of rugs made by Kunga Chosang. The showroom has established itself as a source for exceptional rugs and design. Since opening, custom rugs have become a specialized service of WindHorse. Many satisfied clients have participated in the process of customizing their own rugs. Age-old motifs and cultural expressions are a continual source of inspiration. A visit to WindHorse Rugs provides evidence of the adaptability as well as the vitality of Tibetan design.
Blessings or prayers, printed on red, blue, green, white and yellow fabric flutter in the wind above Tibetan homes, monasteries, and on high passes in the mountains. Each flutter repeats the blessing, carrying it on the wind for the benefit of all beings. In the Tibetan language these flags are called “lung-ta” or WindHorse.
