Craftbased Design Project Channapatna Shivarapatna
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Published in December 2016 By the Department of Fashion and Lifestyle Accessories National Institute of Fashion Technology Site No 21, 27th Main, Sector 1 HSR Layout I Bengaluru, Karnataka 560102 All rights are reserved by NIFT. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photocopy without prior permission. Printed in India 2
Craftbased Design Project Channapatna Shivarapatna
By Jeevan Jai Raj
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This project would not have been possible without the help and kind support of various individuals. Every person I met or spoke to helped me in moving a step further towards the betterment of this project. I’m extremely thankful to NIFT Bengaluru for providing me with an opportunity to be a part of this cluster project. I’m grateful to Ms. Shipra Roy and Dr. Yathindra for introducing us to these crafts as well as giving us the motivation to go ahead with it. We would also like to convey our sincere gratitudes to all the artisans for sharing their experiences and work with us.Last but not the least, we would like to specially thank our parents, friends and family for supporting us.
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CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the Craft cluster project is a record of work done by the Fashion & Lifestyle Accessory Design student of batch 2014-18, Jeevan Jai Raj (BD/14/55) as a regular student for the degree of B.Des,during the period of 29 Days, which represents as independent work and does not form the base for any previous work. PLACE: Bengaluru DATE: 19.12.2016 Under the Guidance of,
Ms.Shipra Roy Assistant Professor
Dr.Yathindra L Associate Professor
Department Of Fashion & Llifestyle Accessory Design National Institute of Fashion Technology Bengaluru - 560102.
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Channapatna 9
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History The origin of these toys can be traced to the reign of Tipu Sultan who invited artisans from Persia to train the local artisans in the making of wooden toys in 18th century. As historic records suggest, this area was under the Chola empire and later on the Hoysalas. Bavas Miyan is regarded as the father of Channapatna toy. He adopted Japanese technology for toys making and help the local artisans improve their art. For nearly two centuries, ivory-wood was the main wood used in the making of these toys, though rosewood and sandalwood were also occasionally used. Lacquer ware industry began as a household craft that catered to the local tourist market of Karnataka. Many artisans sold their wares on the roadside at Channapatna and productivity was low. In the last twenty years, the industry has grown rapidly. It now exists as small and medium scale enterprises, serving a large export market. Due to the phenomenal growth and the influence of market forces from abroad, the nature of employment, the demands on artisans and the character of the artisans has changed dramatically.
to study lac ware in the north western state of Punjab. After a period of experimentation, he introduced study of the craft at the Industrial School in Channapatna. Bavasmia also mechanized the craft through the power lathe. Though Bavasmia introduced lac-turnery to encourage the Chitragar, their response was hesitant, and so admission was opened to students of other castes and religions. Bavasmia convinced Muslims and scheduled caste members to join the course; even today, the majority of Channapatna craftspeople belong to these communities. The lacquering art of Channapatna is known for its mix of vegetable dye and food grade pigments, with natural residue obtained from the trees of Amaltaas and Kusum in West Bengal and Orissa. The popularity of these lac ware toys have been grown over the years. With the introduction of modern technology to this traditional craft, there have been few changes that took place over few generations of artisans, but the design, skill and technique is still inspired from traditional practices that was followed decades ago.
As early as 1892, hereditary artists called “Chitragars� were engaged in wood-turnery which is the basis of lac ware artistry. Bavasmia, a local artist, is known as the originator of the craft in Channapatna and nearby areas. He went
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Wood:
Leaves:
The wood mainly used in this craft is ‘Hale’(Local name) which is scientifically known as Wrightia Tinctoria, This wood is light in colour, almost a shade between off white and yellow. It is an odourless soft wood that is close grained; moderately hard and is best suited for turning and lac application. The wood does not require any chemical treatment. Also when worked upon, the wood does not chip and break and leaves a powder like residue which can be used for other purposes like the making of agarbathis etc.
Talegiri also know as Screw Pine leaf is the polishing agent used in this craft. The tree grows locally and is also easily available all over Karnataka. Being found on the coast and along the banks of rivers, canals, fields and ponds, the screw pine often has aerial roots. The leaf is an important component in lac ware polishing. It imparts a translucent finish to the product. The cost of the leaves varies and cost around 20Rs for 100 number bunch. Raw material like coconut oil, sand paper, wire and springs are other minute but important elements that are locally available in the hardware stores.
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Lac: Lac is a natural resin secreted by an insect known as the ‘Lac Beetle’ or the ‘Laccifer Lacca’. Only the female bug produces lac and it takes 10,000 bugs to make 500gms of Lac. Lac or scale insects live on particular variety of trees that grow in India which is usually found in places like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Lac is obtained in flake form as it has to be scraped off from the trees. When heated it melts at a low temperature and
hence is mouldable which is further combined together to obtain the desired form. The secretion which forms thin crust on the bark of the tree is scraped off and processed to obtain lac. Lac is nontoxic. The highest quality lac is referred to as ‘Button Lac’. It is light and golden coloured and can cost much. Second is a medium quality brown lac is seen in dark black shade.
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Tools The simple tools like filers remain the same while the wood turning process has undergone a massive change. Toy making, year back, revolved around hand-driven lathe, which was a simple machine which was tough to use . It involved both the hands and leg to run it. The lathe was manually driven by hand and meanwhile filing or polishing was done by the other hand simultaneously. After technological advancement and better economy, most of the artisans began using motor driven lathes. Now in major areas of Channapatna, all the factories have the new lathe machine. But hand lathe can still be seen in a few rural areas, it is still practiced patriotically and the work is done with equal efficiency and precision. The finished wood pieces match the quality of the new lathe products.
Sourcing: On speaking with the artisans we got to know the most of the tools or sometimes all the tools that they use are made by themselves. They see the kind of product that needs to be made according to that they design the shape of the tool required or get it made from a junkyard because it is customised as well as cost effective. The artisans get the tools made from either blacksmiths or purchase it from local markets. The master craftsman used a single tool for all the required purposes.
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Usage: The tool used for cleaning the upper surface of the wood i.e. bark, chipping or peeling wood or mud is called Upbrulli.Mould compass is a tool with long sharp hands, used for holding the wood piece. Another tool for the same purpose is round comass used for holding wood pieces that are curvaceous and have larger diameters. The tool used for cutting the wood pieces that have been polished, from the parent wood-log is called Katnaulli.Chirana, is tool used for finishing the inside portion of rings, bangles, hollow wood, pencil stand etc.
Maintainance: The tools that they use get blunt over a period of time hence required sharpening and after repeatedly being sharpened sometimes need to be replaced depending upon the amount of work being done using the tool. When a particular tool is used repeatedly it tends to become blunt and to sharpen that they need to grind it, which results in the reduction in the size of the tool. When this process is carried on again the tool tends to finish hence is replaced with a new one. The maintenance of the tool is taken care of by the artisans themselves. They all grind their tools and sharpen them themselves, its only when it comes to replacing it, if they can manage on their own they get it done in the junkyards. There is no specific amount of time after which the tool after which the tools need to be sharpened but a regular check is done for the tools to see if any of them need any sort of help.
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Sand Paper:
Finishing:
After the desired shape or form is achieved by the artisans he uses a sand paper to file and smoothen the surface so that the lac can be applied easily and smoothly.
After colouring, a screw pine leaf is pressed against the wood with a little touch of oil to add lustre and shine to the product. Oil is sprinkled on the leaf now and then so that it does not dry up.
Lac Application: Lac pieces that are prepared beforehand (colourmaking) are used to colour that wood. Lac is pressed against the wooden piece fixed on the lathe and eventually colour is imparted because of the heat produced due to friction.
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Design Process 21
Design Brief To design products with a contemporary approach and incorporating the spirit of the process of the craft with an amalgamation of modern aesthetics
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Concept Generation
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3D Rendering
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Gidda Sabjan
Artisan working on Prototype
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Prototyping
Semi finish Prototype
Painting and Finishing of Prototype
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Shivarapatna 33
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History Äź | v-b7 |_-| - |u-ˆ;ѲѲbm] -u࢟v| v|orr;7 oˆ;u bm |_bv ˆbѲѲ-]; ĆŽĆ?Ć?Ć? ‹;-uv -]o 7†ubm] |_; -m]- 7‹m-v|‹ u;b]mĸ ; ‰-v |_buv|‹ -m7 ‰-v o@;u;7 v_;Ѳ|;u 0‹ |_; Ѳo1-Ѳvĸ -rr‹ ‰b|_ |_; _ovrb|-Ѳb|‹ _; u;1;bˆ;7Äś _; 7u;‰ - Ѳ-u]; l†u-Ѳ -m7 |-†]_| v1†Ѳr࢟m] |o - vl-ѲѲ ]uo†r o= r;orѲ;ĸ $_bv bv |_; v|ou‹ ‰;ÄťÂˆ; _;-u7 =uol o†u =-|_;uv -m7 ]u-m7=-|_;uvĸĽ Says Sri Padmanabha Achari. History has it that Shivarapatna sculptors trace their lineage to those who built the fabulously intricate temples at Belur, Halebid, Hampi and Hoskote. Shivarapatna is an artisan cluster renowned for its stone sculptures and metal casting. Shivarapatna, a heritage village on the Bangalore-Kolar road is famous for the 300 families engaged in creation of fine art sculptures. Deities and warriors of Chalukyan friezes are the main source of inspiration for Shivarapatna sculptures. History has it that the shilpis, sculptors of Shivaraptna are descendants of the craftsmen who constructed the temples of Belur, Halebidu, Hampi and Hoskote. They consider themselves the descendents of Vishwakarma,the architect of the universe. The basics of fine arts are passed on by the ancestors. They use hard granite(or soft grey-coloured or Mysore stone),soapstone and sandstone as raw materials. Earlier the sculptures were religious
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in nature. But today the sculptors carve secular portraits and statues and participate in art shows as well. The state government of Karnataka declared Shivarapatna as a ‘Heritage village’ in 2010 and released funds to achieve a clutch of objectives including that of saving the artisan community in the region.
Introduction The Village Shivarapatna is very well known for its intricate carvings on black and grey granite to make idols for temples. The Shivarapatna craft is popular all over India and abroad. There are myths that “During the period of Ganga Dynasty a ‘shilpi’ (Craftsperson) named Basulinga Acharya was traveling from a place which were near Karnataka and Tamil Nadu border in then India to some other place and he spent a night in a Dharmashala in the village Shivarapatna. After cooking the food in the night, he took some pieces of charcoal and drawn an idol on the wall, which was very beautiful. Next morning few villagers saw the line drawing and got surprised by the skill of him. This news spread like wild fire in the village and the king got to know about this. He came to the village to meet him and asked him to
stay in the village and practice the craft and offered him land in the village to stay. There onwards the craft flourished in the village. The Ganga dynasty that ruled Karnataka started traditional sculptures that have been continuing for two thousand years. Basavalingachari from the Jakanacharya hereditary started the Vishwakarma community structures. They came in groups and they settled in the village to construct temples. The Vishwakarma structures has been given the name Shilparamam and the village making these stone structure came to be known as the Heritage Village, by the government recently.
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People The craftsmen have adapted to new types of raw material such as re-enforced plastic to make life size statues of politicians and saints. They not only make statues in stone but also carry out metal casting processes in their inbuilt foundries to meet requirements of the market. The craftsman makes his own polishing tools to fit different sculpting needs to retain the familiarity of touch with the raw material. The craftsmen make polishing tools out of sandstone of varying grain density, size and grips. This allows him to access deep corners and crevices easily. External material such as sandpaper needs to be handled with care and have a short shelf life compared to sandstone. The tools are designed to ergonomically fit their hand dimensions and require little effort to carve.
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A normal three-foot figurine takes about three months to complete and has to go through five stages of painting, polishing, cutting, carving and chiseling. Bronze and brass casting needs a larger setup and more man-power; the stiff competition doesn’t leave much scope for diversion and expansion. The competition is so tight that craftsmen often charge much below the market rate just to have an edge over their neighbors and sell their products. Today, the main customers remain the newlybuilt temples or the old ones that need renovation and the sculptors claim that the stone deities can stand the test of time efficiently. The metal craftsmen were conventionally goldsmiths, but changed their medium of work with the changing demands of time; they are referred to as Sthapati and are well-versed in the Shilpa shastra, as described in the Vedas. Previously the idols used to have a slightly curved posture and now they all stand upright. They have unique style of sculpting: male deities with robust busts and slender waists and female deities with broad shoulders and lots of ornamentation. Good sculptors can make upwards of Rs. 15,000 per month on average, according to one of the artisans interviewed but this is largely dependent on seasonal demand and specific orders. Recently the Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation Ltd announced a Shilpi Gram for the village. The Shilpi Gram will be a platform for sculptors to exhibit their works and will also have a training centre. The idea is to encourage the younger generation to stay loyal to the family tradition of becoming a shilpkar or sculptor.
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Work Enviornment The view of working environment gives the idea of how the work is carried out. Raw materials on one side, working craftsmen, tools used, view of complete and incomplete structures. In one case it was seen that the craftsman divides his work area into two parts: • Sculpting area • Back yard for display Though the backyard was small the craftsman had used this space efficiently to display his sculptures for visitors to see and purchase. He blended his contemporary work with his traditional work and this way he could portray his capability to cater different and new requirements.
Tools: Common Tools used for Stone Crafts are: • Compass (Ttiwar) • Pencil • Steel ruler (L-shape) • Red oxide to mark centerand base of the statue • Hammer • chisels of different sizes and points • Blades • Grinding stone (to polish) • Brick to sharpen the tools • Cloth or brush to take the dust out (while polishing) • Power Drill • Die Grinder • Stone Cutter
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Raw Materials: Raw materials used are: • Stone– Sandstone • Soft stone • Granite and marble, • Brass, Silver, Gold and Panch Loha (Bronze, Gun metal, Gold, silver, Copper) • Fibre (Acrylic and Fibre reinforced plastic) The stone used to make idols for temples as well as of a human consists of Black and grey granite which are locally available. In traditional language the artisans of the village call the black granite as ‘Purush Shila’(Male Stone) and the grey granite as ‘Stree Shila’ (Female Stone), which is less hard, than the male stone. The artisan chooses the stones for making the idols according to the characteristics of the god or goddesses. Few other stones are also imported from other states to make idols when there are any specific requirements of the client. Mostly the stone carving is done with the help of various traditional hand tools, which includes various kinds of iron chisels and hammers along with some measuring instruments like right angles and compass of various sizes. For finishing, waste grinding stones of various grades from the industries is used. The craftsperson forge the iron chisels and they themselves do maintenance work like regular sharpening of the same inhouse. In current time in order to increase productivity the artisans have started using basic power tools also like Power drills, Die grinders, stone cutters etc.
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Process and Techniques: The carving process essentially has the following sequence:
sculpture. This helps the master craftsmen to communicate with their fellow craftsmen who work under them as trainee regarding the understanding of the form.
• Selection of the stone (Hard granite, Soft Gray granite, Mysore stone, White granite) is done on the basis of the sculpture to be made, depending on male or female carving the artist wants. • The artist prepares detailed Sketching of the sculpture in the form of template on the hard paper, if necessary he also makes the clay models too. If there is a change in the figure style e.g., cloth draping etc., he also makes a wax model of the sculpture, in small scale. All these techniques not only give the artist the rough idea of the sculpture, but it also helps them to understand the proportion of the
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The master craftsmen divide the work of sculpting into the three parts depending on the shape and size of the structure to be made. - The master craftsman does the marking on the rough stone. - The trainee or the helping craftsman who is/ are semi-skilled or in learning stage removes the rough extra part of the stone. - The master craftsman himself does the final finishing. • After getting the exact pictures of the sculpture, Dimensions of the figure to be manufactured are marked on a stone slab, the rough and extra portion are removed in order to get the basic shape, smooth or flat dressing is made to define each and every details. The marking on the stone is done by the red oxide in several layers. The red oxide is commonly available locally. The metal is crushed and then mixed with water in order to make red colour out of red oxide. The colour marks on the stone surface do not vanish while chiseling the surface. • Final finishing of the surface is done by carborundam stones (Chane Kallu) & final polishing is done with water and emery papers. If the sculpture has to be painted in black, it is done with the colours which are extracted from local fruits, as sarkai, annabare and kenbabari (dry fruit) - these raw materials are heated, melted and used as colour pigment. The main techniques used are as follows : - Cutting - Round chisel, Flat chisel, Hammer (all of different size). - Grinding - Die grinder with different beats size, Channel cutter. - Buffing - Hand buffer, traditionally made coconut shell hair brush. - Polishing - Local fruits, as sarkai, annabari and kenbabari (dry fruit) are used.
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Design Process 47
Design Brief To design products with a contemporary approach and incorporating the spirit of the process of the craft with an amalgamation of modern aesthetics
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Concept Generation
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3D Rendering 53
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