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HANDICRAFTS
Eternal India
encyclopedia
universally used. In southernmost parts of
India, this leaf has been transformed into
many
utility
items
endowed
with
extraordinary
beauty,
using
high
imagination, fine skill and painstaking
labour. Basketry is done only by women.
The craftsmanship of the Bengal bas-
ket maker is seen in the pataras (oval
boxes), jhampie (oblong baskets), and
phulsaji's (flower baskets). Lakshmi cas-
kets are produced with double walls, cane
inside and bamboo twill work outside, cov-
ered with red cloth on which shells are sewn
to form floral designs. Trivandrum in Kerala
offers baskets made of screw-pine leaves
and kora grass. The important centres in
Tamil Nadu are Tirunelveli, Nagore and
Melkulam.
Basketry is an important household
craft in Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal
Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura where bas-
kets are made of split bamboo. The cane
baskets of Uttar Pradesh are known for
their good craftsmanship and utility. They
are used in picnic and shopping baskets.
Mat weaving is also an ancient craft and
mats of different sizes and patterns are
made throughout the country. Assam and
Midnapore and Cooch Behar in Bengal, are
famous for a special variety called Sitalpati.
Which means "cool spread." Its weaving is
a household craft with the man preparing the
green cane slips and the woman doing the
weaving. Another well-known Bengal mat
made from the
madher
grass is the
maslond
of Midnapore district. It has intricate pat-
terns including the mango and temple tow-
ers.
Pattamadai in Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu)
is famous for fine Pattamadai mats of kora
grass. Other centres in Tamil Nadu are Tan-
jore, South Arcot, North Arcot and Salem.
Kerala makes prayer mats, sleeping
mats, table mats, sitting mats of kora grass
and screw-pine leaves. This state also
makes fine coir mats.
FOLK PAINTINGS
The art of painting by women on the
ground with rice paste coloured with vege-
table dye is a folk art practised in many
parts of India. The designs drawn by the
women come from their ritual observance of
household ceremonies.
The folk paintings of Orissa popularly
known as Patachitras have a history of
great antiquity. The best work is found
around Puri especially the village of
Raghurajpur.
The famous wall paintings of Madhu-
bani (Bihar) are the joyous expression of
the women of Madhubani and surrounding
areas. The murals illustrate themes from
Indian mythology. Reproduced on paper the
paintings are today well known in India and
abroad.
In Himachal Pradesh, the murals have a
unique touch. The bird, animal and human
motifs are abstracted and placed in a circle,
square or rectangle. The subject matter
generally is scenes from the Krishna legend.
Folk painting on wood and playing cards
(knowing as 'Ganjeefa') are also found in
parts of the country. Tanjore in Tamil Nadu
has an age old tradition of paintings on wood
and wood-veneer playing cards. The playing
cards are decorated circular discs. Orissa,
Karnataka are also noted for this work.
MARBLE AND STONE
Uttar Pradesh is one of the leading pro-
ducers of stone work. Agra accounts for the
bulk of this industry, providing employment
to about 1000 artisans. The Taj Mahal mini-
atures, tables and hanging lamps are carved
out of soft marble and white Italian alabas-
ter. Table tops, dishes and containers are
carved out of durable fine grained white
Makrana marble and inlaid with semi-pre-
cious stones. Tobacco pipes, cups, bowls,
plates, candle sticks, paper weights and
ashtrays are made of soft Gorahari stone
and are inlaid with motifs.
Fine utility articles on stone in black,
pink, brown and other colours are made in
Gaya, Chandil, Sasaram (Bihar).
Rajasthan has been called the home of
stone carvers and masons. Stone carving is
concentrated in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer
and Dungarpur. This area is known for deli-
cate Jali work. A good deal of functional
domestic stoneware, beautifully shaped and
ornamented, is turned out in yellow lime-
stone and coloured and white marble. Sculp-
tures of Hindu deities in white marble are
popular. Stone carving is one of the best
known crafts of Orissa. In Pathuriasahi in
Puri, stone carvers as skilled as the master
builders of old fashion stone into traditional
figures as beautiful as the temple sculp-
tures. There are other settlements of
craftsmen at Mangalpur near Balasore who
make bowls, plates and glasses and other
utility items from semi-hard grey stone.
POTTERY
Unlike in most other countries where
working in clay has mainly an utilitarian ba-
sis, in India pottery has both a sociological
and religious connotation. Pottery articles
are put to a variety of domestic uses —
Images of deities are made of clay.
Uttar Pradesh is one of the most impor-
tant centres for ceramic manufacture in the
cottage sector. Khurza is known for its blue
pottery. Glazes in brown, chocolate, black,
yellow, lemon, pink and scarlet have also
been developed.
The richly coloured pottery of Kashmir,
known as the Dal Gate pottery, is marketed
in Srinagar. Colours range from light and
dark brown, pale and rich jade green, deep
yellow and ultramarine, light and dark grey.
Items made are crockery, salt cellars,
vases, jar, trays, etc.
Pottery is one of the oldest crafts in
West Bengal and is practised in Bankura,
Burdwan, Midnapore, Hooghly, 24 Parga-
nas, Halda, Murshidabad and Birbhum.
Household articles, dolls and toys, images
of deities and flower pots are some of the
products made with common clay. The real-
istic clay dolls and figures of Krishnanagar
are well known. Terracotta figures of horses
are a speciality of Bankura.
Pottery is the occupation of about 5000
artisans in Assam, the products mostly
confined to household articles. West As-
sam is proficient in terracotta. In Kamrup
many families earn their livelihood by mak-
ing terracotta objects including clay tiles.
Asharkandi in Goalpora district is famous
for its clay dolls.
Pottery is one of the most important
rural industries in Karnataka. Ramanaga-
ram*near Bangalore and Khanapur near
Belgaum are known for their pottery and
terracotta figures.