Eternal India Encyclopedia

HANDICRAFTS

Eternal India encyclopedia

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- sign in woollen thread or hessian. A line of 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

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