|
 |
|
Delhi has been a thriving
centre for arts and crafts for centuries. The rich tradition of
crafts struck root way back in Emperor Shahjahan’s time.Zari,
Gota, Kinari & Zardozi,Ivory Carving,Carpet Weaving are some of
the unique art and craft forms of India famous all over the world.
|
|
India -
Delhi - Delhi Arts & Crafts
Delhi Arts & Crafts
Delhi has an amazingly long tradition of arts and crafts. Strangely
enough not many people know about this: dilliwallas (Delhiites)
included. Hardly surprising, considering there’s so much to
confuse as arts and crafts from all over India camp out here.
Actually, it would be an insult if they didn’t – after all
isn’t Delhi the capital, the premiere city of India? Anyway, as a
result, local traditions have gone unnoticed. As the popular Hindi
adage goes: ghar ki murgi dal barabar, meaning that the things at home
are rarely appreciated!
In the year 1648 when Shahjahan built Shahjahanabad, the present-day
walled city (though there is hardly any wall left!). Chandni Chowk,
the famous market place came up as an accompaniment to the Red Fort in
1650.
But
it is not as if Delhi did not have any arts and crafts before this.
Stories have filtered down to us about Mohammad-bin-Tughlaq employing
as many as 500 expert weavers in Delhi as far back as in the 14th
century. Their assignment: to weave silk and gold brocades for the
ladies of the court and as royal gifts! However, such instances are
few and far between. Formally, it all began in1648.
So there, Delhi is not just a hodgepodge of traditions from all over.
It does have its own repertoire of arts and crafts. Check out the
following before you go shopping in the streets of Delhi.
¤ Bamboo Work
You are bound to spot vendors selling window screens made of bamboo
slats and tied with plain or coloured string in designs all over
northern India.These are called chiks. Chikwalas or makers of such
screens can be seen in and around the city. Delhi also happens to be
an important centre for chairs and stools made of the tall
golden-white sarkanda grass, which grows in large abundance in this
area.
¤ Carpet Weaving
Carpet weaving came into prominence during the Mughal era, when Akbar
brought Persian weavers to India. The main centres of carpet-making
were Srinagar, Lahore, Amritsar, Sind, Multan, and Allahabad. Delhi
however was a centre for the production of Herati carpets (designed
after the style of those made in Herat, Afghanistan) at one time.
Known for their harmonious colours, the design of these carpets was
kind of standard. The border was usually a broad band separated from
the centre and edged on the outer side by one or two narrow bands
filled with bold and conventional flower designs.
¤ Gems, Kundan &
Meenakari Jewellery
Delhi
is home to two very special kinds of jewellery encouraged and
patronized to the level of an art form by the Mughals. Kundan and
meenakari are equally intricate and splendid, and it is impossible to
say which outshines the other.
Kundan is the Mughal-inspired art of setting of stones in gold and
silver. Gems are bedded in a surround of gold leaf rather than secured
by a rim or claw. Famous Meenakari, or the skill of enamelling, was
brought from Lahore to Delhi by Hindu Punjabis. Did you know that
enamelling was originally meant to protect gold, which in its pure
state is so soft and malleable that it can easily wear away? The
Mughal fashion was to enamel the reverse side of jewellery to protect
it from contact with the wearer’s skin.
Enamelling is a champleve technique, which in simple English means
that a recess is hollowed out in the surface of gold or silver to take
in a mineral. For example, cobalt oxide, which gives a blue colour, is
then fired into the depression so as to leave a thin line separating
the segments of colour. An ornament with both kundan and meenakari is
so astoundingly magnificent that it seems to have been conjured up by
rubbing Aladdin’s magical lamp
Do visit Dariba Kalan near Chandni Chowk, which is famous jewellers’
street. The traditional meenakari and kundan designs they have are
worth checking out. Another special thing to look out for is setting
of the navratan (nine precious stones) in gold. This is a traditional
skill practised by Muslim craftsmen called saadegars who settled in
Delhi during Shahjahan’s reign. Sarafs, traditional Hindu
jewellers who have been around for centuries, are still present and
doing good business too.
¤ Ivory Carving
Delhi used to be quite centre for ivory carving when the Mughals
were king. Over the years, and especially after the ban on ivory,
artisans have had to make do with fashioning small caskets, jewel
cases, paper cutters, card cases, chessmen and boards. If you are
truly interested in this craft, try the Delhi Ivory Palace in
Shahjahanabad, a 300-year-old shop that used to attract the best
craftsmen back then. The highlight of the place is an old set of
furniture that was carved by three generations of craftsmen and was
intended as a gift for Queen Victoria. In recent times, artisans have
increasingly had to make do with bone, sandalwood and ivory chips.
¤ Leatherware
Once upon a time, (yes, you’ve got it right), during the
Mughal period, Delhi was an important and famous centre of
leatherwork. Traditional leather jooties (ethnic footwear) and
slippers, which were sometimes ornamented with pearls, gold and silver
were the piece de resistance. Embroidered bags, shoes were other
popular items. However, thanks to the mechanization of the leather
industry, traditional leatherware finds few takers though you can spot
a few craftsmen working at their art.
¤ Miniature Painting
The
Delhi school is a direct offshoot of the Mughal School. Mansoor, a
famous painter of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir’s court, is said to
be the author of this school and his direct descendants can still be
found following in his footsteps. Known for its dynamism and
naturalism, this school used a strong contrast in colours and the
paintings were done on ivory. Now with the ban on ivory, a special
handmade paper is in use.
¤ Musical Instruments
Throughout history Delhi has been associated with the making of
musical instruments, along with Calcutta, Lucknow, Banaras, Lahore,
and Tanjore. There are still some old shops where musical instruments
are assembled. Check out Bina Musical Stores at Nai Sarak, Delhi
Musical Store at Jama Masjid and Lahore Music House at Daryaganj.
¤ Paper Craft
There’s a lot you can do with paper and Delhiites have been
doing it for a long period of time. You might have seen kites but
there’s a whole lot more on offer. Starting with kites then, you
can find them in the patang (kite) market in Lal Kuan bazaar in Old
Delhi. These colourful, feather-light kites come in all shapes and
sizes – and so they should, after all, flying kites is an
important national pastime.
Tazia is the next most popular paper craft. A commemorative paper
structure, it consists of coloured bits of paper pasted on a bamboo
frame and carried in the Moharram procession (mourning to mark the
martyrdom of the Prophet’s son). Tazias are used for a happy
purpose too during the Phoolwalon ki Sair held every September.
Another papercraft that takes a lot of doing is effigy-making.
Effigy-makers have it really good when the Hindu festival of Dusshera
comes round. Huge effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkarna and Meghnath (the
three bad guys from epic Ramayana) are laboriously erected and then
burnt on Dusshera to uphold the victory of truth and justice.
¤ Pottery
There’s no escaping pottery in India; it’s everywhere, in
every part, every nook and cranny of India. In Delhi, if you are
looking for terracotta pottery, then you’re in luck. You’ll
see cutwork lamps, long necked surahis (water-pots), gamle
(flowerpots), pitchers and cups of all shapes and sizes crawling all
over the place.
Around Saket, Uttam Nagar, Bindapur, Kotla Mubarakpur and Shahpurjat
you’ll find colonies with a concentration of potters. If you don’t
manage to get hold of quality earthenware in one of the roadside
shops, look out for it at the Crafts Museum in Pragati Maidan, Dilli
Haat and just outside the New Delhi Railway Station.
The
art of making blue glaze pottery came to Delhi via Kashmir, the Mughal
emperors’ favourite retreat, and rolled on to Jaipur. The
traditional Persian designs have now been adapted to please a more
sophisticated clientele. Apart from the predictable urns, jars, pots
and vases, you’ll now find tea sets, cups and saucers, plates and
glasses, jugs, ashtrays and even napkin rings. You can spot blue
pottery being made by Hazarilal who lives in Hauz Suiwalan, one of the
little alleys behind Asaf Ali Road.
The colour palette is restricted to blue derived from the oxide of
cobalt, green from the oxide of copper and white, though other
non-conventional colours such as yellow and brown have jumped into the
fray too.
¤ Shellac Bangles
Though Rajasthan is particularly regarded as the home of shellac
work, Delhi isn’t too far behind. Especially when it comes to
brightly coloured lac bangles. Do check out these dazzling bangles,
often studded with glass gems, spirals of base-metal wire, foil and
spangles. They make inexpensive but unusual presents for friends back
home.
¤ Wood Inlay
Thanks to Mughal patronage Delhi became a thriving centre for all
sorts of crafts, among them wood inlay work too. The Mughals loved
this form of decoration and their demand encouraged communities of
Persian inlay artisans to settle in Delhi. Coloured woods, horn and
even plastic are lovingly set into carved surfaces of a range of
household objects, jewellery boxes and curios.
¤ Zari, Gota, Kinari &
Zardozi
Zari is gold, and zardozi embroidery is the glitteringly ornate,
heavily encrusted gold thread work practised in Delhi and a few other
cities of India. To most foreigners - used to sleek, understated wear
- the north Indian bride’s lehanga, choli and dupatta, heavily
emroidered with gold and silver threads comes as a visual shock.
Either real silver thread, gold-plated thread or an imitation which
has a copper base gilded with gold or silver colour, is used for zari.
Traditionally made for Mughal and Rajput nobility, it has now been
officially adopted as bridalwear by anyone who can afford it. of
course, the days of using real gold and silver thread are now history.
What you can get, however, is synthetic or ‘tested’ zari
emroidery. Metal ingots are melted and pressed through perforated
steel sheets, to be converted into wires. They are then hammered to
the required thinness. Plain wire is called badla, and when wound
round a thread, it is called kasav. Smaller spangles are called
sitara, and tiny dots made of badla are called mukaish.
Akin to applique, gota work involves placing woven gold cloth onto
other fabric to create different surface textures. Kinari, or edging,
as the word suggests, is the fringed or tasselled border decoration.
This art is predominantly practised by Muslim craftsmen.
Zardozi, a more elaborate version of zari, involves the use of gold
threads, spangles, beads, seed pearls, wire, gota and kinari.
As one walks through Kinari Bazaar, a narrow by-lane off Chandni
Chowk, one can still see men and women working assiduously at zardozi
work. The method is unchanged, and sp are most of the designs -
traditional phool-pattis (floral motifs) still rule the roost. Kinari
Bazaar has a wide range of these dazzling garments on display and, of
course, sale. This once fading art form received a shot in the arm a
few years ago when India’s top fashion designers began giving it
place of pride in their collections.
See our Bazaar section for more details on where to buy handicrafts.
¤ Dastkar, The Crafts Revolution
Dastkar is a registered society that aims at improving the economic
status of craftspeople, thereby promoting the survival of traditional
crafts. It provides marketing facilities and support services to
traditional artisans and low-income craft groups that need assistance.
The primary objectives of the organisation were to provide a link
between the rural craftsperson and the urban consumer and to tackle
the problems faced by craftspeople in the country through direct
interaction with the artisans themselves.
Dastkar strongly believes in ‘craft’ as a social, cultural
and economic force of enormous strength and potential. The crux of its
programme is to help craftspeople learn to use their own inherent
skills as a means of employment, income generation and economic
self-sufficiency.
The craft skill and the product – its identification,
development, production and marketing - are the catalyst to help
traditional craftspeople regain their place in the Indian economic
mainstream and development process. The objective is to create
self-sustaining, viable producer groups and encourage them to market
directly and not to subsidise craft.
Dastkar’s vision is of craftspeople, especially women, running
their own lives; economically independent and self-sufficient through
their own efforts and through the production and sale of craft
products using indigenous materials and employing inherent traditional
skills that are in harmony with local social, cultural and
environmental norms.
The society was founded in 1981 by six women who had worked in the
craft and development sector. From a group of women working informally
on a wholly voluntary basis, it is today a full-time development and
alternative marketing organization with an all-India outreach.
Elaben Bhatt, founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association
(SEWA) said recently: "I see Dastkar as both an organization and
a movement. The organization strted the movement and gave many NGOs
and craftspeople the confidence to make good craft products and market
them directly. It showed us the way and gave us direction. Today,
there is consequently an all India movement of crafts as a means to
sustainable employment. It is not necessary for Dastkar to grow as
large as the movement or to run the movement. At the same time without
the organization there would ne no movement, and is there was no
movement there would be little point in the organization."
This seems to sum up everything Dastkar feels about its growth and
future development.
¤ Contact Dastkar at:-
40 & 45B, Shahpur Jat
New Delhi 110049.
|
|
 |
|
Indiasite.com, a trusted name in
the travel industry in India caters to all the needs of a tourist coming
to India.
Any unauthourised duplication of this site is strictly prohibited and
liable to prosecution.
Copyright © : indiasite.com (All rights reserved)
|
