Eternal India Encyclopedia

HANDICRAFTS

Eternal India

encyclopedia

pattern

designs

(delicately

modelled

bangles and fine gold chains with pendants)

have been popular in the cities of Bangalore

and Mysore. Belgaum and Karwar are also

well-known centres for jewellery.

In Rajasthan, Jaipur and Alwar are fa-

mous for enamel work in gold, silver and

copper. At Jorhat in Assam, gold enamelling

is done in different colours on lockets, ear-

rings, bracelets and necklaces.

Gems: India imports rough diamonds

and offers a wide variety of cut and polished

diamonds to the overseas buyer. (The

Panna mines in Madhya Pradesh are the

only local source of diamonds, although till

1925 India was the only source of mined

diamonds in the whole world). Diamond

cutting and polishing is one of the most an-

cient crafts of India. Surat is one of the

centres of the industry as well as Ahme-

dabad, Morvi, Rajkot in Gujarat and Trichur

and Trivandrum in the South. About 150

cutting and polishing units have been estab-

lished in Bombay.

The art of cutting precious and semi-

precious stones is practised in several

centres — Jaipur (emeralds), Hyderabad

(pearls), Bombay, Madras, Mangalore, and

Cochin and Calcutta. With the prices of gold

and gems on the increase, there is a demand

for imitation jewellery everywhere in the

world. Uttar Pradesh accounts for more than

80 per cent of the production and export of

costume jewellery in India. Varanasi is

known for glass beads made from fused

glass rods.

METAL CRAFT

Metal-ware in India may be roughly di-

vided into religious images, ritualistic items

and objects of utility.

The metals used are brass, copper and

bell-metal. Brass is an alloy of copper and

zinc, bell-metal is a mixture of copper and

tin.

Bell-metal is most attractive with its

soft surface and old gold tint. Kerala is

famous for its bell-metal vessels, wide

open, with flat or curved rims called

urlis;

they can be used as prestigious table-ware.

A giant cauldron, called

varpu

is used in

temples.

Tiruvananthapuram,

Irinjilakuda,

and Kasargod are bell-metal centres.

During the Gupta period (4th century

A.D.) the Kurkihar centre for brass and bell

metal in Bihar was known throughout the

world. Two types of products are made

nowadays — cast pots and bowls with the

lower half black or a dark colour and

dokhra

articles, figures of riders and elephants,

candle stands, fish type

sindhurdan

(ver-

milion box) etc. A special item, the flexible

brass and silver fish, is made at Haveli

Kharagpur in Monghyr District.

Beautiful metalwares are made in sev-

eral parts of Gujarat: Jamnagar, Wadhwan,

Visanagar, Sihor.

Uttar Pradesh is the largest brass and

copperware making place.

Indian metal craft plays an important

part in the religious and community life of

the people. The commonest objects are

water vessels, cooking vessels, serving

dishes and containers made of brass and

copper.

Lotas

(small water pots) and

thals

(plates) are made out of sheet metal by

alternatively heating and hammering the

metal.

Engraved brassware is made mainly in

Moradabad (UP). The most popular items

are

aftabas

or traditional Omar Khayyam

type wine jugs, flower vases, trays, table

lamps, ash trays, etc. Moradabad is the

premier metalware producing centre in the

country with more than 80 per cent of the

country's

production.

Cobweb

patterns

enamelled in glowing colours emerge in

highly polished brass and gleam through the

overlay of colour. Two other important

centres of brass work in Uttar Pradesh are

Aligarh and Jalesar. Varanasi is also known

for its brass and copper repousse work,

executed mainly on wall plaques, trays, etc.

In this work the relatively soft metal is

beaten out from the undersurface to reveal

itself in relief. Jaipur specialises in hanging

lamps, enamelled trays and trinket boxes.

Traditional bronzes: The metal icons of

India, used in worship, possess unusual

strength and elegance. The wax model is

coated with several layers of clay till a thick,

solid coat is obtained. The clay model is

bound with fine steel wire. This is then

heated over a furnace. The wax drains out

through a channel at the base of the wax

model and molten metal is poured into the

hollow space created. After the metal cools,

the outer shell is split open and the cast

metal figure is finished by chiselling.

Tamil Nadu is one of the famous

bronze-casting regions. Images belong to

different periods — Pallava, Chola, Pandya,

Nay aka. The icon-makers are known as

stapatis.

Metalware for daily use. An extensive

range of cooking, serving and vessels for

holding water are made all over India in

bronze, brass, copper, and bell metal.

Nagercoil, Trichur and Trivandrum in South

India produce various styles of lamps

known for their beauty. Traditional temple

bells come from Madurai, Vagaikulam and

Nagercoil.

Metal mirrors : The ancient craft of

metal mirrors mentioned in the Rig Veda

and depicted in the temple sculptures of

Khajuraho survives in the town of Aranmula

in central Kerala. Here seven master

craftsmen make metal mirrors (

Aranmula

Kannadi)

out of an alloy of tin and copper

which is highly polished. Depending on their

size the mirrors range in price anywhere

from a few hundred rupees to several thou-

sand rupees.

BIDRI WORK

Bidar (Karnataka) and Hyderabad are

known centres of bidri work which is the

inlaying of gold or silver on material which is

usually an alloy of zinc with small propor-

tions of some other non-ferrous metals

which is then oxidised. The beauty of this

art is in the contrast between the lustrous

gold or silver inlay and the jet-black oxi-

dised background. Besides traditional items

like hukkas, betel boxes, goblets and flower

vases, paper cutters, menu card holders,

cigarette cases, ash-trays, fruit dishes,

trinket boxes are also popular.