Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India

encyclopedia

HANDICRAFTS

Sunhemp druggets and carpets : Sun-

hemp druggets are made in Tamil Nadu.

Some years back the Handicrafts Board

trained some people in Gopalasamudram,

near Tirunelveli in weaving pile carpets cut

of sunhemp.

The Mirzapur-Bhadohi belt in Uttar

Pradesh, has the largest concentration of

carpet weavers (40,000 carpet looms). This

area specialises in lower, medium and low-

fine qualities (100-200 knots per square

inch).

The mountainous regions of India — Leh

(Ladakh),

Darjeeling

(West

Bengal),

Gangtok (Sikkim), Imphal (Manipur) and

Arunachal Pradesh — produce carpets with

a distinctive style using the dragon, snow-

lion, and stylised chrysanthemum and lotus

motifs. The tradition here is central Asian.

Kalimpong (West Bengal) has become a

centre of Tibetan carpets. The designs in-

clude dragons, lotus and bird, lotus and bats,

birds and flower, parrot and flower etc.

India is now the second largest exporter

of carpets in the world, after Iran. Germany

has emerged as the largest importer of In-

dian carpets, followed by USA, Switzerland

and Great Britain.

Durries

: A thick cotton-woven fabric,

the

durrie,

is used on the bed or on the floor.

In the south they are used as a floor cover-

ing together with mats.

Durrie

weavers are

concentrated in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri

(Uttar Pradesh). The Bhavani durries of

Coimbatore are famous and Salem is known

for its cotton as well as cotton and silk

durries made in brilliant colours.

A special type of durrie called Sutada is

made in Bijapur and Dharwad districts of

Karnataka. It has horizontal stripes of dif-

ferent colours. Durries with geometric de-

signs birds and animal motifs are made in

Navalgund (near Dharwar) in Karnataka.

Durries are also produced in Warangal.

Chain-stitch rugs: A speciality of Ka-

shmir, these rugs have an embroidered de-

sacking protects the embroidery against

wear and tear. Colours range from soft pas-

tels to bright colours. Normal sizes from

3'x5' to 6'x9', other sizes made to order.

Gubbas: Exclusive to Kashmir. Gubbas,

or the common man's carpet, are made of

blankets which are washed, milled and dyed

in various colours. Two types — embroi-

dered and appliqued. In the appliqued type,

pieces of dyed blanket are joined together

and interspaced with embroidery. Gubba

sizes range from 4'x9' to 8'xl2'. Square and

round cushion covers are also made in the

gubba technique.

Coir druggets and mats: Coir floor cov-

erings are a traditional craft in Kerala, with

Alleppey having the largest concentration.

Mats: The kora grass mats of South

India and

sitalpati

(cool mats) of Assam are

well known. Mats are also made of wheat or

rice straw, weeds and fire bamboo. Prayer

mats are being exported.

Jajams or masnads: These are hand-

printed floor coverings made in Amritsar

(Punjab),

Chittorgarh

(Rajasthan)

etc.

They look well spread over plain cotton dur-

ries.

JEWELLERY AND GEMS

Till 1725, India was the only source of

diamonds in the world. Golconda enjoyed a

high reputation of mining the finest dia-

monds. Now Panna mines in Madhya

Pradesh are the only worthwhile source of

diamonds.

Gem and jewellery is an important craft

in India employing nearly 4 lakh artisans.

Shell bracelets are worn as religious

obligation in Bengal. Murshidabad, Cuttack,

Amritsar, Pali and Indore make various

types of ornaments out of ivory, wood and

horn. Ornaments out of ebony are made in

Monghyr in Bihar.

Jewellery and ornaments are made all

over India according to the style and tastes

prevalent in different regions. Kashmiri

goldsmiths produce beautiful bracelets,

earrings, necklace and bangles, studded

with precious and semi-precious stones.

Silver jewellery is made in Rajasthan

(Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sahapura and Soni Pak-

roggi). Gold and silver jewellery is made in

Gujarat (Rajkot, Paddhan, Bhuja and Jam-

nagar).

The goldsmiths of Ahmednagar (Ma-

harashtra), make neck ornaments consist-

ing of three rows of hollow gold beads filled

with lac set in a pad of silk. Bombay has

jewellers producing traditional or contem-

porary designs.

Enamel work or

meenakari

on gold, sil-

ver, copper and brass is done in many places

in India. Jaipur and Alwar in Rajasthan are

well-known centres. At Jorhat in Assam

fine gold enamelling is done in blue, green

and white on lockets, carvings, bracelets

and necklaces.

in the south, traditional forms of jewel-

lery are preferred. In Andhra Pradesh, the

centres are Kalahasti, Tirupati and Ra-

jahmundry while in Tamil Nadu, Madurai,

Tanjore, Ramanathapuram and Coimbatore

are well known.

The necklaces produced in Trichur (Ker-

ala) are beautiful and made in a variety of

designs known as

garudamala, mahala-

kshmimala,

etc.

Mangalore in Karnataka is known for

the skih of its jewellers and Mangalore