Charkha is a hand-operated device through which yarn is prepared. It is used in the production of yarn as a cottage industry. In India’s freedom struggle, it became a symbol of economic self-reliance. A lot of research was done by the Charkha Sangh on when and how the Charkha machine was born and developed. Before the British came to India, spinning wheels and looms were prevalent throughout India. By 1500 AD, the Khadi and handicraft industry was fully developed. In 1702, England alone purchased Khadi worth 10,53,725 pounds from India. Marcopolo and Tavernier have written many beautiful poems on Khadi. In 1960, Tavernier’s diary has praised the softness, strength, fineness and transparency of Khadi. In India, the word Charkha means wheels that spin large and small threads. Usually one hand turns the wheel while the other hand pulls the fibers coming out of the tip of the sharp spindle shaft. When “the spindle was mounted on a frame and rotated by turning a wheel which held a rope attached to the spindle.” Today, with the advent of new modern machines, the practice of charkha has ended but if we are lucky, sometimes we still find some people spinning yarn on charkha which is a very fascinating and ancient art.