A prayer rug is a small and portable carpet that Muslims put on the floor when they perform their prayers. Its main function is to provide a clean and isolated platform for the prayer. With the specific patterns on its surface, it also aims to bring the atmosphere of a mosque to wherever they take it.

Muslims pray five times a day. The only product they need to perform their prayers is a prayer rug. And there is one thing they need to be careful about: the holy city of Mecca a” the direction towards which they should perform their prayers.

As one of the main aims of a~Sajjadah 1426′ was to emphasize the values of the patterns on the prayer rug, lighting those patterns up was considered as the main approach from the very first stages of the concept. There were several technology alternatives to achieve this effect: mini LEDs, fibre optics, EL wire embroidery and EL panel. After the experiments done, the most appropriate one turned out to be the Electro Luminescent Phosphore Printing technology. EL wire embroidery has also been explored during the research part and a~mini glow wire’ was ordered from the UK-based company Surelight Ltd.

‘Sajjadah 1426′ indicates the direction via the data coming from a compass module embedded inside it. The closer to the direction of Mecca it is turned, the brighter the patterns illuminate.

‘Sajjadah 1426′ enriches the praying experience with the illuminated patterns on its surface. The word ’sajjadah’ is a Persian/Turkish word meaning ‘prayer rug’ and the number ‘1426′ stands for ‘2005′ in Islamic calendar.

Designer: Soner Ozenc