Nagaland Crafts

Nagaland Crafts

Wood Carving

The best wood-carvings are to be seen on the village gate, in the Morung, and in front of the house of a rich man or warrior. The working instruments for wood carving are simple. They include Dao, chisel, axe and adze. The figures generally carved are mithun head, hornbill, human figure, elephant, tiger etc. These figures have their usual symbolic meaning. The mithun head represents wealth; the hornbill, valour; the human figure, success in head-hunting; while elephant and tiger denotes physical prowess. In Konyak area, there are some carvings which have the Khajuraho touch about them; there are exotic motifs showing a dancing couple in an amorous posture. The Konyaks  are in fact, the best wood-carvers among the Nagas. The log-drums or xylophones which are laboriously hollowed out of the trunk of a big tree are excellent specimens of the Naga's skill in wood-work. The drum has generally a carved prow showing mithun, buffalo or tiger's head. In recent years, with the suppression of  head-hunting and the spread of Christianity, the art of wood-carving has suffered.

Bamboo Work

The forests in Nagaland are rich in Bamboo and cane. Naturally therefore, Nagas are expert basket makers. The craft is restricted to men. Baskets are usually of two kinds, one to be kept in the house for storage purposes and the other to be carried on the back for day-to day use. The Ao (tribe's) basket is conical in shape, while the Angami basket is cylindrical  with the mouth slightly wider than the base. Generally all Nagas make their own baskets and there are no professionals.

Manipur Crafts

Manipur Crafts

Cane and Bamboo

Bamboo, a forest resource in Manipur is abundantly grown in Churachandpur, Jiribam, Tamenglong and Imphal districts. Manipur is the largest producer bamboo products after Tripura in the entire north east. Some of the bamboo products are sofa sets, Murhas, mats, basketry, tray, chair, table, flower vase, ashtray and other decorative and utility articles. Production of cane articles have been reducing because of scarcity of cane due to Jhum (Shifting) cultivation widely practiced in the hill areas.

 Stone GlassesStone-Carving

Stone carving is a traditional craft of Manipur. In Bishnupur district utility items like bowls, candle-stands, grinders, flower-vases, stone glasses,  plates, etc. are made. Manipuris has a custom of constructing  an engraved memorial stone for their deceased describing their achievements and good deeds near the village. So stone carving was popular even from earlier days.

 Kauna (Water Reed) Crafts
Kauna is a type of reed usually grown in the wetlands and marshes.  Imphal valley of Manipur is the centre for kauna crafts. This is often used for making mats, Chairs, cushion, coasters, bags, moorah etc. This product is in great  demand in Manipur.

Wood Carving

Wood Carving is also a craft popular in Manipur. Due to absence of proper transport and communication with other parts of India, craftsmen had to depend on wood as material for making various articles of utility. The main products are wooden tray, spoon and drum, etc. to name a few.

Textile Weaving

Textile weaving is a house hold industry in Manipur. Coarse cotton cloth and silk is woven on the looms. Cotton thread is imported in large quantities. Cotton yarn is dyed with red, yellow, green, orange, black and pink colours. Artistic designs are arranged horizontally and vertically by producing stripes and geometrical blocks. These blocks are filled up with geometrical designs of smaller components. The rhythm of colour bands is maintained. This craft is also known by the name of Laichamphi which means cotton cloth. However, loin loom weaving caters to the local demands and requirements only.

 Dolls and Toys

In Manipur Dolls and Toys are  made from different materials like cloth, cotton clay, wood and bamboo etc. They have a charm of their own with their traditional outfits. Dolls include characters like Radha Krishna, Khamba and Thoibi, Etc. Toys include caricatures of various animals and birds.

Madhya Pradesh Crafs

Madhya Pradesh Crafs

Wood Carving

Wood carving is one of the main industry of the tribes of Madhya Pradesh. Various objects of daily use, hut dwellings etc are finely carved. Tobacco containers with tortoise and the sun-moon motifs and designs, Combs depicted with animal motifs, intensely carved wooden spears and utensils, carved boxes, panels, furniture and funerary pillars carved with figures are some of the products.  


Brass work  

Brass work occupies an important place in the craftsmanship of the Bastar tribes. The urge for creativeness reflects in most of the images made of the brass and bell metal. For preparing these figures they follow the ancient cire-perdue process.  First the earthen core is made, then wax is shaped on the object which is ultimately replaced by molten metal. The products include, animal and human figures, deities etc..


Textiles

Textile weaving is one of the main crafts of Madhya Pradesh. Sarees  in subtle shades are woven in ppilaces like Chanderi, a village near Gwalior and Maheshwar. These sarees include a wide variety of checks with traditional gold borders. Madhya Pradesh’s craftsmen are equally adept at producing tassar silk handloom fabrics.

Thousands of craftsmen practice hand printing, generally with vegetable dyes. Tarapur and Umedpura, two villages on the opposite banks of the river Gujari, use indigo for their prints. The printers specialise in printing fabrics with a blue background and yellow and red prints, known as nandra. Garments, bedspreads, tablecloths and curtain material are produced here. Jawad also has a similar style of printing. Mandsaur produces excellent bandhanis as well as resist prints imitating the bandhani patterns. Sarees with batik work based on the local mandana traditions of floor and wall decorations have been developed here. Tie and dye chunaries are the speciality of Tarapur and Mandsaur. Skilled craftsmanship is also on display in a variety of zari-embroidered articles.

Kerala Crafts

Kerala Crafts


Coconut Shell Craft

Coconut shell craft is a popular craft in Kerala as coconut trees are foundin abundance here.  A high degree of skill is required for carving coconut shell as it is hard. The main centre for coconut shell craft is Calicut district in Kerala. The common products are cups, flower vases, snuff boxes, sugar basins, nut bowls, powder boxes and spoons etc and also products decorated with brass, which are in great demand.

Coir Products

Making of coir and its products one of the main village industry of Kerala. Coir is extracted from the protective husk of the Coconut.  Coir is used to make a range of floor coverings,  door mats, floor Mattings and rugs, crush-proof pile carpets, Flowered Mourzouks etc. The mats come in a range of colours and intricate designs. Besides that rubberised coir, a blend of coir and latex, is also used to make mattresses and cushioning. The husks separated from the nuts, are retted in lagoons upto ten months. The retted husks are then beaten with wooden mallets manually to produce the golden fibre. The fibre is later spun into yarn on traditional spinning wheels called "Ratts", ready for dyeing and weaving into myriad shades of floor coverings.  Some of the main centres for coir products are Alleppey, Kollam and Calicut. The products are exported on a large scale to other countries.

Woodcarving

Kerala has one of the richest traditions in wood carving. Temples and palaces are the best preservers of the wood-carving styles of Kerala. Doors, windows and ceilings of most of the ancient houses are testimonial of the high level of craftsmanship and tradition of wood carving. Carvings are made on rosewood, sandalwood, cedar wood and teak. Life-size wood carved figures which are highly stylised with exaggerated features, gestures and postures like the characters of Kathakali dance drama, mythological and religious figures were produced. Now items also include intricately carved Elephants in different postures, other animal figures, paper weights, lamp stands, Jewellery Boxes like Nettoor jewellery boxes in its unique conical shape, with brass edgings at the corners, decorative furniture etc. Kerala style of work on sandalwood and rosewood is quite distinct from that prevalent elsewhere.

Metal Inlaid Wood Craft

The main centre for the craft is Ernakulam district in Kerala. Rose wood and white wood pieces are cut into required sizes and pasted on a plywood base according to the particular design and polished. The brass metal pieces are fixed in different designs to make the final product. The product include Dancing Lady, Peacock, Candle Stand, Star Wheel, Kathakali Heads, Key Stand and Butterflies etc.

Screw Pine Products

Screw pine mat weaving is an ancient craft and one of the major cottage industries in Kerala. Three types of mats are woven with Screw pine leaves.  The main centres of this craft in Kerala are Karunagapalli Taluk of Kollam Dist, Mavelikkara and  Karthikapalli Taluks of Alappuzha dist. Thazava, Vachrai and Vallikunnam Panchayaths, some villages in Thiruvananthapuram and Kottayam Districts. Screw pine leaves are also woven, hand embroidered and shaped into products like household linen, straw hats, and carry bags.

Jammu & Kashmir Crafts

Jammu & Kashmir

Weaving and EmbroideryWeaving and Embroidery 

Shawls and carpets are famous woven products of Kashmir. The shawls made with Pashimina fabric, Ring shawl which is so fine that it can pass through a ring, Jamavar shawl with its symphony of colour schemes depicting architectural and mythological figures interwoven with landscape designs are popular. Carpet making is the national craft of Kashmir. It was introduced here by Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin. Hand-woven pile carpets (kalins) harmoniously depicted with floral and other designs are the most popular. The namda, felt rug made from beaten wool embroidered all over, the gabba- a floor covering, prepared from old woolens in a variety of forms and designs, the chain-stitch rug, made from Hessian cloth and coarse wool, over which floral and other motifs are worked are also famous.

The embroidery of Kashmir, called kasida, is world-famous. Varied, rich in colour, elaborate in detail and exquisite in execution, the kasida patterns are freely drawn by the naqqash mostly from memory. The finest kasida work, particularly embroidered on shawls or saris, has no 'wrong' side.
The chain-stitch is also used for the making of a large number of miscellaneous articles such as bags, screens and cushion covers.

Silver and Copperware

Plain and inlaid silverware of Kashmir are in great demand. The silverware includes silver tea-sets, flower vases, toilet sets, scent chests, ornamental picture-frames, cigarette-cases, tumblers, etc. Designs include lilac, leaves of the chinar and the lotus etc.

The Kashmiri artisan also produces excellent products of copper-ware consisting mostly of cooking pots and samovars (tea-kettle of Russian origin) and sundry articles for the household or the mantelpiece. There is a good demand for lovely copper trays inlet into tables of carved walnut-wood.

Papier-mache craftPapier-mache craft

Papier-mâché craft, peculiar to Kashmir, was also introduced into the Valley by the great monarch, Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, who has been aptly called the Akbar of Kashmir. The products, beautifully painted over with ornamental patterns, comprise picture-frames, pen-cases, screens (which can view with the Chinese counterparts), tables, tea-pots, writing sets, candle-sticks, handkerchief and tie boxes, vases, stamp boxes and other utility goods whose need is now fairly widespread. Green fields sloping towards the snow-capped mountains, sparkling streams running over rounded rocks, shikaras and lotuses blooming on the lakes, are the favourite papier-mâché patterns. The craftsmen have introduced brass and metal-lining for the new style of papier-mâché goods which makes them more durable and useful.

Wood work and CarvingWood work and Carving

Wood carving is one of the best known cottage industries of Kashmir. Walnut and chinar wood, are the main material for the wood-carving. Furniture and toilet articles such as chairs, cabinets, writing-or dining- tables, jewellery boxes and ornamental caskets are the popular products. Some of the walnut wood products-cigar boxes and trays, table-tops, handkerchief and collar boxes-are delicately carved. Floral designs of almost every conceivable variety are made with great accuracy of detail in chased or raise work.

Assam Crafts

Assam

Weaving 

Weaving and embroidery is one of the main industry of Assam. Some of the Assamese traditional garments like Mekhela - Chadar, two piece Assamese ladies apparel have beautiful designed borders. Cotton, Muga silk, Paat (Silk), Eri silk are common fabrics widely used for weaving. Images of animals, human figures, creepers, flowers, birds etc. are embroidered on handloom products. Sarees, shawls, jackets, gamocha (Assamese Towel), table spreads, mats and napkins are the common products. Cachar district and Sualkuchi (Silk weaving centre) are the main handloom weaving centres of Assam.
Fibre is also weaved on a loom made of wood and bamboo poles in  Batadrava area of Nagaon district and Gauripur of Dhubri district. Seats, mats and cushions are made with fibre.

BambooCane and Bamboo

Cane and bamboo products is another important industry of Assam. Assamese make beautiful furniture and roof tiles with cane. Common house hold articles like sieve, beer mug, winnowing pan, waterpot, small baskets and hats with colourful design and motif are made out of Bamboo.

Wood Carving  

Wood is a traditional craft of Assam.  Exquisite wood carvings are seen in the doors, walls, beams, decorative panels and ceilings in houses, temples, monasteries and royal palace. The painted wood work of Golaghat signifies the folk art of the state.

TerracottaTerracotta 

Assamese terracotta products are exquisite examples of immaculate craftsmanship. Household articles, toys, dolls and images of worship are the main products. Gauripur is the centre for terracotta products in Assam.

Brass and Bell metal

Hajo and Sarthebari in Kamrup district of Assam are famous for brass and bell metal crafts respectively.  The main products are Kalah (water pot), Sarai, Kahi (dish) Bati (bowl), Lota and Tal (cymbals) etc..

Arunachal Pradesh Crafts

Arunachal Pradesh Crafts


Bamboo and cane craft

Bamboo and cane craftThe availability of cane and bamboo in abundance have made Arunachal Pradesh famous for its cane and bamboo articles. Bamboo and cane are used to make colourful basket mats, cane belts, attractive smoking pipes, jewellery etc. It is also used traditionally by the tribal population for constructing their dwellings, common household utensils, furniture, and even weapons such as bows and arrows, spears, armour, and implements like dibbles, hunting and fishing traps. Most of the household are engaged in making bamboo and cane articles.

 WeavingWeaving

Weaving is another important household industry in Arunachal. Among the tribes the Apatanis are the most advanced weavers. The tribal use bark fibres extracted from trees, goat's hair, human hair besides cotton and wool for weaving.  They make ceremonial coats and shawls, and embroidered cotton cloth, handbags, skirts and lungis (loin cloths), shawls, sashes, carpets etc.

 Wood CarvingWood Carving 

Wood carving is a traditional craft among number of tribal communities in Arunachal Pradesh. The main centre for woodcarving  in the state is the Wancho area of Tirap district. They make figure heads, warriors, miniature morung, figurines depicting different vocations common to rural life, animal figures, colorful masks and images of Lord Budha.

Andhra Pradesh Crafts

Andhra Pradesh Crafts


Hyderabad Pearls

 Hyderabad PearlsThe Capital city of the state, Hyderabad is the main centre for pearl trade in India and one of the principle pearl markets in the world.  Pearl trade flourished here under the patronage of Nizam's of Hyderabad. The local craftsmen and jewellers are located close to Charminar. Pearls are priced according to the radiance, shape and size. Colour and lusture of pearls should be checked in day light. One of the ways to find out if the pearls are real, is to rub them gently against the edge of one's teeth. Genuine pearls will give a rough sensation while fakes will feel smooth.

Toys and Dolls

Toys and DollsThe best known with the widest range in Andhra Pradesh toys are those from Konda Palli, a small village in the Vijaywada district. The themes are centered round the villages and the different vocations common to rural life. Equally well-known are the Tirupati dolls of Tiruchanur village near Tirupati, made in the red sandal wood. They largely reproduce the religious figures in the traditional classical style of temple sculptures in small sizes, like dolls.
Nirmal, a village in Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh, is widely famed for its toys. Though at one time Nirmal used to make religious figures, today it concentrates on animals but more on birds, especially in flying formations.
Ettikoppaka, a village in Vishakapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh, specialises in lacquered household articles in toy-sizes, including complete sets of cooking vessels, table-ware, furniture, etc. The special items are mirrors in fancy frames and toy carts.

Bidriware

BidriwareBidriware is shiny silver inlay work against a black background. Designs in pure silver are inlaid in an alloy of Zinc and Copper. Though the original home of Bidri is Bidar in Karnataka, it is perhaps one of the most popular Crafts of Andhra. The technique of bidri came to India from Iran (Persia) in the 14th century. It was Sultan Ahmad Shah Wali who introduced this craft to India and he and Nizam of Hyderabad made this craft most popular. Many craftsmen are carrying on the craft in Hyderabad. Bidri-ware has a wide range of variety. The designs are drawn free hand using sharp chisels. To keep the bidriware always looking new, Polish the inlay work withe silver polish and rub vegetable oil on the surface.

Indian handicrafts

Indian crafts are known throughout the world for their artistic work and grandeur. The vast cultural tradition and ethnic diversity, has enabled a variety of crafts with different materials, motifs and techniques to flourish in this land.

The first references to Indian handicrafts can be found from the Indus Valley Civilization (3000 B.C.-1700 B.C.).  This civilization is well versed in the craft of bead making, ceramics, shell etc. The Mughal era and the Gupta period were also the golden period in the history of Indian craft.

Works on woodwork, Pottery, hand looms, terracotta, paintings, beadwork, jewellery and embroidery etc  have survived through centuries with fewer changes since it remained integrated with the everyday existence of the locals. The materials that are used may have changed over the years with the advent of modernity, but their technique of production have not changed much.

Crafts not only cater to the day-to-day needs of the people but are also used for decorative and religious ceremonies in India. Thousands of craftsmen makes crafts from nature – clay, plants, trees and animals etc. Articles of daily use like chairs, bags, cushions, hats, purses, sofas etc are made from these natural sources. Increasing use is made of recycled materials like wire, plastic and tin.

In India, every state has its own unique culture, their own designs, colours, materials in use and individual shapes and patterns which is manifested in the handicrafts of that particular region. For instance, Kashmir is known for its Pashmina wool shawls as well as carpets, silverware, ivory works etc, Assam and West Bengal for their delicate 'Sholapith' and 'Shital Patti' work; Karnataka for its rosewood carving, sandalwood crafts; and the engraved and enameled meenakari brassware found in Rajasthan, silk materials from Varanasi and Kanchipuram, colourful embroidery, mirror work, quilting and fabric painting from Gujarat etc are some of the unique crafts from the different states. Certain other regions are famous for crystals and semi precious stones. In India, Craft making and dealing is a major occupation today with around twenty three million people engaged in the field.