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Craft Documentation Saurav Roy
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Digital publication of a student document For private circulation only Fashion Communication Design 2016 National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bengaluru ,India Text by Papia Roy Saurav Roy Photographs by Saurav Roy All rights reserved under international copyrights conventions No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Guided by Sanjeev C M Design by Saurav Roy
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Craft Documentation Saurav Roy Guided By Sanjeev C M
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Acknowledgement The 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 Firstly, I would like to thank Mr Sanjeev C.M Assistant Professor at National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bengaluru for guiding me through the process of documenting the craft and going through multiple presentation ideas. Also, I would like to show my gratitude to Sir for making me realise the importance of crafts and sharing valuable information in the form of research papers and articles. He has always been quick to respond to clarify our doubts on research methodologies. I am grateful to Mrs Urmila Sengupta for introducing me to this craft as well as giving me the motivation to go ahead with it even though it is different from textile crafts. My heartfelt thanks to Mr Tarun Dey, librarian at Sahid Shivshankar Phatakar Kaichar, District Burdwan who escorted us to various locations and constantly shared his experiences with the craft. For providing me with a place to stay and his constant support. He took a keen interest in our project and was a constant source of motivation and guidance, he even introduced me to important publications related to the craft. I extend my deepest gratitude to All the craftsmen, Sri Godaghar Shah, Ashok Shah, Ashis Malakar, Horo Gopal Shah, Biswajeet Banerjee, Mahadhov Shah and Swapan Kumar Mukherjee for sharing their experiences and work with me, be it through pictures or actual demonstrations. And a very special thanks to my parents, friends and family for supporting me.
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Daker Kaj -Bonkapasi West Bengal
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Abstract Sholapith craft is one of the primordialhandicrafts of the state. Sholapith craft of West Bengal recognised as one of the best example of elegance, exquisite beauty and finest craftsmanship. Sholapith items form an integral part of the major religious rituals in West Bengal. The people engaged as sholapith craftsmen are known as Malakar. This paper aims at identifying the production cluster of Sholapith craft of West Bengal. It is an effort to find out the cultural Significance of Sholapith craft and classify the products according to their uses. The present study tries to understand the production process of Sholapith crafts, the implements and raw materials used in it and technological aspects associated with these products.The data are collected through observation, semi-structured, in-depth interviews and group discussion. The data were textual and contextual type i.e. the former is from the documents and the latter is from the studied areas.
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Howarh Bridge -Kolkata West Bengal
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Tram Rail -Kolkata West Bengal
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About Bengal West Bengal is a state in eastern India and is the nation’s fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million Y bordered by the countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, and the Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim, and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata. Together with the neighbouring nation of Bangladesh, it makes up the ethnolinguistic region of Bengal. It is noted for its cultural activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions the state capital Kolkata is known as the cultural capital of India The state’s cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions. ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians filmmakers and artists.
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Durga Visarjan -Kolkata West Bengal
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History of Bengal The region of Bengal is one of the most densely populated regions on Earth. The Bengal region is renowned for its rich literary and cultural heritage as well as its immense political and intellectual contribution to South Asian his. History through the Bengal Renaissance. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown. One theory suggests that the word derives from “Bang a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have been derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga (or Banga. Ancient Bengal was the site of several major Jana padas (kingdoms). It was also part of large empires such as the Maurya Empire (second century BC) and Gupta Empire (fourth century AD); and part of the regional Buddhist Pala Empire (eighth to 11th century) and Sena dynasty (11th-12th century. From the 13th century onward, the region was controlled by the Bengal Sultanate, Hindu kings and Baro Bhuyan landlords under the suzerainty of the Mughal Empire, until the British East India company took control of the region from the Mughals in the late 18th century.
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British Era Coins
Writer’s Building -Kolkata West Bengal
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Handpull Riskshaw-Kolkata West Bengal
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The company consolidated their hold on the region following the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and Battle of Buxar in 1764 and by 1793 took complete control of the region. Kolkata (or Calcutta) served for many years as the capital of British controlled territories in India. The early and prolonged exposure to British administration resulted in the expansion of Western education, culminating in development of science, institutional education, and social reforms in the The region, including what became known as the Bengali renaissance. A hotbed of the Indian independence movement through the early 20th century, Bengal was divided during India’s independence in 1947 along religious lines into two separate entities: West Bengal a state of India and East Bengal a part of the newly created Dominion of Pakistan that later became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971.
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Daker Kaj drying on floor
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Introduction The word craft includes two major aspects viz. raw materials needed for the craft production and manufacturing craft items using those locally available raw materials with some aesthetic sense. Shola plant is the principal raw material of the craft. Sholapith is a milky white sponge-wood which is carved into delicate and beautiful objects of art. It is a Hydrophyte plant. Shola is a plant which grows wild in lakes, ponds, trenches of paddy fields, flooded low land area and marshy waterlogged areas and is partially submerged in the water. Shola plant grows particularly in the marshy areas of Eastern India i.e. West Bengal, Assam, Orissa. Sholapith plant belongs to the family- Fabaceae or Leguminosae and Genus- Aeschynomene.
Shola is an aquatic annual herb popularly known as Phool shola in Bengal, with scientific name ne aspera L. belonging to the family Leguminosae. It is found growing wildly in water logged areas, but presently has been threatened one and listed in Red list of threatened species, no conservation programme is undertaken till date Culturally, it has great importance in society because of heavenly milky white colour of shola pith which brings suggestive of purity, sanctity and sacredness into people’s mind and these attributes altogether promise to woo their heart. Common householders use hanging the decorative items made of shola pith inside the sacred room as a symbol of sanctity. Owing to these traits, umpteen items of craft made from shola pith occupy a unique position in India’s heritage of handicrafts. Solar kaj, as popularly known in Bengal,meaning objects/
items made from shola pith is treated as a traditional handicraft. A variety of crafts is made, based on exclusively indigenous knowledge blended with unique as well as craftsmanship, which has its genesis involved in the rituals and festivals. The rituals and festivals of any society is an arduous platform which is not only the epicentre of emanation of such artistic crafts but also supports 3Ps: Patronage, Promotion, Propagation, of the creativity of such traditional crafts manifesting unique craftsmanship. Other crafts, shola pith crafts engage many people for earning their livelihood too. Any art of craft based on traditional knowledge is unique because it belongs to grass root artisans. A large number of artisans/craftsmen belonging to Malakar community are dependent on running their livelihoods by profession in making such unique crafts which are worthy of beauty. The particular community from
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Durga Face- Shola Craft
generation to generation is engaged by this profession, with unique skill and artistic secrets involved in manufacturing shola handicrafts getting transmitted from older members to younger ones. This skill of art embodies with innate craftsmanship of particular community whose skill manifests a pure indigenous aura. In course of time the shola pith crafts have got recognized everywhere for its beauty, eco-friendly and superb craftsmanship However, once the bit
of such indigenous knowledge is transferred from community they lose their control over the information since mechanisms are not enough to protect this right with this view of awareness, this project intends to document all these techniques used for making such crafts of excellent art for which traditional knowledge inheriting through generations being alive, along with the importance of shola plant in view of the necessity for its conversation.
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Sholapith
Bonkapasi
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Boy carrying shola-Bonkapasi
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To Reach Bonkapasi from Burdwan I started my journey from Galsi (my native village) one of the main wards under Burdwan district. Reaching Bonkapasi Village from Burdwan, one has to take a public bus a journey of around 50km from Burdwan Nawabhaat Bus Stand. One Reached Bazar Bonkapasi Bus Stop, main e-rickshaws are availabe easily to be taken inside the village, which is around 2km from the bus stop.
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Important Places
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Halfcut shola-Bonkapasi
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Cuttug of the Design
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Cuttug of the Raw Shola
Cuttug of the Shola
Materials and Methods Collection & documentation of information, and visit of waterlogged areas
A study was conducted among artisan’s craftsmen of Malakar community who are involved in making for this purpose, a group of artisans/ craftsmen was interviewed and interacted to collate their traditional wisdom pertaining to craftsmanship which was further verified by another group of Malakar. Eventually, a strong knowledge-based information was collected, manifesting traditional knowledge of craftsmanship which inherits through generations. A field study was conducted to get the present status of shola growing wetlands including water
logged areas and recorded botanical features of shola plants. Mostly women are engaged in the uprooting of shola plants from their waist height water level, trim the stems by removing roots and branches, make them into 2-3 segments with the help of Hansuli. The segmented parts are heaped which are able to float due to buoyant property. Sometimes, the entire shola plants are brought into the home after being uprooted from deep water logged areas. In the home, usually, any able member of the family can take part in the trimming of
the stem, make them into 2-3 segments with the help of Bati while half-seating in posture with comfort.
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Self Employed Artisan-Bonkapasi
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National Awardee- Ashis Malakar
Communitie’s Involvement The people involved in shola pith craftsman are known as Malakar meaning ‘ Maker of Garland’
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Artisan displaying his work
Artisans at Factory
Two groups of a communit y are involved in t wo dif ferent activities:
Goddess, manifesting the beaut y of indigenous skill in the purpose of noble causes. Traditionally, people with entire family members are engaged in this activit y, par ticularly in the festive seasons, but become engaged as agricultural and daily wage labours in other times. In West Bengal, this communit y inhabit s in almost ever y district and about 5000 ar tisans by profession are involved in this craf t activit y, on the other hand, collectors of shola plant s usually belong to SC (Scheduled Caste) categor y in respect of Indian constitution those are both economically and educationally poor. Unlike Malakar communit y, they represent a variet y of castes. usually. They dwell around the large-scale waterlogged wetlands and earn their livelihood by the collection of resources like shola plans, shopla (aquatic plant s used as leaf y vegetables belonging to the family Nymphaeaceae), f ishes and another biotic resource like crabs,
One communit y is involved in the preparation of varieties of handicraf t s made from shola pith and another being engaged for the har vesting of shola plant s from water logged areas. The people involved in shola pith craf t sman are known as Malakar meaning ‘ Maker of Garland’. They represent the par ticular communit y in West Bengal, belonging to OBC (other back wards classes) in respect of Indian constitution. Most of them are economically not well and are educationally back wards too Interestingly, their title is still Malakar. In ancient time, they occupied a respectable position in societ y and used to provide wreaths Daker Saaj made of shola pith, which was of fered to deities on occasion. They usually prepare garlands made from shola pith for idols of Gods and
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Man Repairing his Cycle
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Sholaplant pond- Bonkapasi
Shola plant: Botany, Distribution and Ecology Shola grows up to 3.0 m tall. Leaves spiral, compound,16 cm long, leaflets sessile, 3348 pairs, 1.0-1.2 cm long Ă— 0.3 cm broad, linear, obtuse; stipules 1.2-1.3 cm long; inflorescence axillary raceme with 4-6 flowers, peduncles and pedicels hairy; bracts 0.3-0.4 cm long; flower 2.0-2.2 cm long, calyx hispid, valvate, 5; corolla 1.8-2.0 cm long, vexillum glabrous, keel pubescent externally, often indented on both surface; fruit pod with 5-6 cm long; seeds 4-5 numbers with green-brown colour. Shola, A. Aspera is believed to have originated in sub-Saharan Africa between Senegal and Sudan. It is widely
distributed Actual Size of Shola
in the lowlands of western, central, North-eastern and southern Africa5. It was introduced into the Philippines and since then has been growing across South and South-east Asia 6-9. In West Bengal, it is popularly known as Phool shola and found growing in almost all districts: Murshidabad, Hooghly, Nadia, 24 Paraganas (South and North) Howrah, Burdwan, Birbhum, Midnapore (East and West), Malda, Bankura, Cooch-Behar,
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Dinajpur (South and North), Jalpaiguri. Shola plant grows wildly in marshy water logged areas, ditches, trenches of paddy fields, fallow wetlands and flooded low land areas. It usually gets germinating at the advent of pre-monsoon when fields get moisture. Dormant seeds which remain deposited in the soil get sprouting and take 2.5-3 months to become the full grown plant. It has full blooming during the months of August-October, followed by fruiting.
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Durga Puja - Bonkapasi
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Time of Harvest and Rituals
pith having all the important traits such as expanded surface area, milky white colour, malleability, texture, sponginess, lustre, softness, and suppleness.
Harvest takes place at the eve of Puja seasons, i.e. Durga puja- a great festival of Bengal, along with Lakshmi Puja (Goddess of Wealth). Importantly, all the decorative works are utilised during puja seasons. Harvest commences on the eve of puja, for artisan can get ideal shola pith from shola plant for making decorative items in one way and have a wide range of markets for selling crafts with higher prices in other. More and above, the ideal situation of harvesting shola plant comes when the flowering period is ending with the commencement of pods; this is indicative of having the desirable maturity of shola pith suitable for decorative works. The portion of shola stem which remains submerged yields quality shola Sliced Shola
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Shola Work
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Daker Kaj
Methods There are two types of method involved in processing of shola pith from stem as; (i) Malar Kaj and (ii) Daker Kaj. Malar Kaj is mentioned to be a crude method that usually does not require quality shola pith and skilled artisan as well. For Malar Kaj, hard brown cover needs not to be peeled off from shola stem during processing. The products of Malar kaj have cheap rate of price and take less time spent for their manufacturing. The shola used for Malar Kaj has its diameter in the range of 2.5- 3.8 cm and may not be used for making fashionable items. The entire segment of shola (75-90 cm) is used for processing which develops two types of base materials as Dhari and Sheuli. In preparation of Dhari, artisan keeps shola stem at the horizontal plain of ground, i.e. 900 of vertical body plain on sitting posture, place the sharp edge of the Kat at distant end of the shola stem and run the Kat touching parallel plain of
shola stem. Numbers of long thin narrow ribbon shaped sheet (75-90 cm long × 2.5-3.0 cm width × 0.07-0.1 cm thick) are obtained, which is known as Dhari . Dhari is treated to be the base product which is then used for making of different items of Mala meaning garland which has a variety of shape, size and fashion. In preparation of Sheuli, artisan follows the same technique as is used for preparation of Dhari but place Kat at slanting plain adjusted to shola stem and run Kat as quick as possible so that numbers of small elliptical shaped form (7.5-15 cm long × 2.5-3.0cm width × 0.06-0.1 cm thick) are obtained which are known as Sheuli. Size of Sheuli is important for making different items of Chand Mala – one kind of garland; smaller Sheuli are used for preparing Papri whereas bigger ones for Chand Mala. For preparation of long Mala, a fiber is used for sewing, which is obtained from aquatic macrophyte known as Hogla, Typha angustata under the family Typhaceae.
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Daker Kaj
Daker Kaj is another one as mentioned to be a sophisticated method that requires both skilled artisan and quality shola pith which has traits like diameter in the range of 3.8-5.0 cm, milky white colour, malleability, texture, sponginess, luster, softness, and suppleness. The segmented shola stem (75-90 cm long) is cut into several cylindrical pieces each with 7.5-10 cm long .Every piece needs immediate processing; else it may get rotten. Hard brown cover of each piece is peeled off carefully with the help of Kat, leaving only milky white spongy part exposed, known as shola pith. The shola pith may be preserved into closed plastic sack for long to avoid moisture. During processing, this shola pith is held with two fingers, including lazy thumb. Then Kat held with another hand is run skillfully along the longitudinal line of shola pith to pare a thin flat sheet (38-50 cm long Ă— 7.5-10 cm width Ă— 0.05-0.07 cm thick), known as Duma. Usually one skill artisan can obtain one such Duma from one piece of shola
pith. This thin flat sheet is then rolled, made consolidated and tied with threads at both ends for further processing of making different items. Initially, craftsmen spend months to make these flat thin sheets, carving out details meticulously. During preparation of flowers, one end of the roll is opened, keeping another end tied. The sharp edge of Kat is used to tear out /cut into different directions to make a variety of shape for having decorative items as per requirements. Sometimes, middle of the consolidated roll is tied with thread, while both ends are made opened and torn out /cut into different shapes to obtain desirable decorative items or different sizes of sheet are carved out for making particular design of objects and are stored in polythene packets to maintain luster. No parts of shola pith are wasted; even leftover bits are used for making various designs. Sometimes, thin wires are used to make decorative items fastened and hanging. Adhesive is used to paste the different pieces of shola pith to embellish them attractive.
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Tools
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Kath- Cutting Knife
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Tools Tools used Usually, two types of tool are used for entire process of shola pith preparation; one type of tool known as Kat which has one sharp edge, another edge being blunt. It is made of iron steel and has varying lengths from 28.5-33 cm, including blade portion with 17.5-22.5 cm long Ă— 2.53.8 cm width Ă— 0.03-0.05 cm thick, and 10 cm long handle. Usually, 5-7 numbers of Kat are required for the entire processing. Kanchi is another tool as good as scissor used at the time of finishing activity during processing. Two types of Kanchi are used; one is Fine Kanchi and another only Kanchi; later one is used for simple cutting, followed by former one for cutting required for sophisticated designing and finishing touch.
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Dyed Base for Shola Work
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Paints
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Dyeing of Base Products Dyeing takes place only for selective base products depending on which products are to be used for specific design. The artisans dip required base products into container having desirable dyes, then lift out immediately and make drying. Depending on the preparation of decorative items, particularly for the objects of Mala, Chand Mala and Papri base products such as Dhari, and Sheuli are dyed accordingly. Usually, red, pink, green, blue, yellow and violet colour is used for dyeing base products.
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Dyed Base for Shola Work
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Durga Pratima Visarjan
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Importance of Sholapith Shola pith is consisting of parenchymatous tissue situated at the cortex or core of stem of shola plant and is processed as carving out into delicate and beautiful objects of art. The Shola pith looks like Thermocol made artificially in laboratory. Comparatively, shola pith is much superior in terms of malleability, texture, luster, sponginess and also has greater durability. It has great advantages in uses since it is eco-friendly in view of its biodegradable feature that does not make any pollution wherever it is used. If protected from moisture, its luster attracts all and beauty of milky whiteness creates sanctity over the vicinity.
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Durga Puja- Kolkata Raj Bari
Self Employed
Artisans
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Economy
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Workers carrying shola logs
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Post Office- Bazar Bonkapasi West Bengal
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Economy The craft items have a good market in India, but still are lagging behind far than if its wage calculated in terms of actual time spent in its manufacturing. More and above, this is very much seasonal, so market is not available round the year as in festive season. Malakar community is committed to keeping this art alive for their tradition in spite of facing all such adversities. During puja period, they earn substantial amount from selling of craft items even one may earn around Rs. 600/day. In the case of shola plant harvest, one owner, as well as collector, can earn Rs. 20,00025,000/bigha/season.
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Daily Life
Daily Life
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Daily Life
Daily Life
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Post Office- Bazar Bonkapasi West Bengal
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Division of Labour: Craftsmen spend several months on a piece to meticulously curve out the details. With hand-operated simple tools they used to engrave exotic designs on the Sholapith. It was very laborious and timeconsuming job. No part of the pith is wasted and leftover bits are used for making flowers, birds and animal figures. Here entire families are engaged in the craft, yet it is the master craftsmen who take charge of the most intricate works.
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Heredity and Oral Tradition of Learning: From the very young age, they are trained to make some Sholapith articles. Heredity have developed in them perfected forms and motifs and their inborn sense of art displays itself in the use of these forms and motifs to create one of the most impressive items of decoration and ornamentation. By helping the elderly artisan in crafting the Sholapith as well as through day to day experience the young craftsman acquires the training at home. The oral tradition of learning the technical skill of the craft is the only means to train the novice artisan. In Maheshpur village I find a Sholapith craft training centre supported by Department of Rural Development, Kolkata where the women and younger craftsmen can learn to create new designs or different objects to fulfil the demand of the modern taste.
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Master Artisan
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Epilogue
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Epilogue The potential indigenous knowledge manifesting this traditional art and the Malakar community possesses it as traditional owners are overwhelming. It is an important part of the lives of the community forming key elements of our society, who are poor in wealth, struggling every moment for survival, but possesses rich wisdom inherently. On the
way of livelihood their forefathers have innovated the technologies in trial and error methods by harnessing the potential of shola plant, Aschynomene aspera, resulting in the creation of beautiful decorative objects of unique craftsmanship. One must feel to have a synergetic approach for protection and propagation of this crafts and for
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Handwork of Asis Malar
this, it is now necessary to undertake the steps for conservation of shola plant which is already threatened. Authors have said that present generation of Malakar community is not so interested to be engaged in this profession long. Therefore, it is surely alarming of keeping this heavenly art alive. There are artificial materials like Thermo cool available, but this cannot be the substitute of shola pith when quality is compared. As already discussed, shola pith is eco-friendly
because of its biodegradable property which will not bring any pollution. In this circumstance, we should prioritize to conserve this shola plant urgently so that the great art of craftsmanship revealed in handicrafts will remain alive in society; else we will be responsible for repeating the history of extinction of both shola plant and traditional art like the oil yielding plant and Dodo bird that could help germinate its seeds.
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Motifs 1. Chakra- a small circular motif with spokes along the egde used as a small unit cominingmany of which, large surfaces are developed. 2. Chandmala - the large circular unit is used as a combination of three such units, which are hung from the hands of the Durga Idol, depicting that she protects allthe three worlds. 3. Phota- small decorative unit in the shape of a frop of water
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Change of sacred Value of Products: In those days, an artist (shilpi) used to create varied types of motifs by hands with simple tools. Those were the product of the emotional feelings, experiences and aspirations of the artists. Their imaginary power to create such motifs on the shola products used to reflect their aesthetic sense as well as traditional knowledge. The sacred value of the articles is gradually transforming into the secular or commercialised form. The changing the value of the modern society does not make it mandatory for the Hindu urban married couple to wear Topor and Sithi mukut.
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People how matter
The Craftsmen
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People how matter
The Craftsmen
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Location: Bonkapasi Type of Pratice: Family Tradition Experience: 35 years + Employment Type: Self Employed/Owner
Ashis Malakar Ashis Malakar is from a village called Bonkapasi that lies in the Burdwan district of West Bengal. He comes from a family of three generations of National award winners in this craft of Sholapith. Ashis Malakar, his wife and his brother together still continue to make large-scale ornamentation for the seasonal Durga Pujas, as that is their speciality, what is known as “Daak er Saa�. This family of Malakars have innovated a new style of crafting sholapith with integrating the bark as well, giving it highlights of brown in places. This has a contemporary look, yet is organic and traditional due to their way of crafting the sholapith. The first to win the National award for their family was his grandmother, Katyayani Devi Malakar who was handed over this award by VVGiri, the then President of India. Katyayini Malakar took up this craft, brought up her entire family and stood up on her feet solely on the basis of her craftsmanship after the loss of her husband, She not only supported her family through the means of practicing this craft, but also ensured that she passed on the craft to her future generations, who until today are able to retain the quality that she had in her own work
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Lt. Katyayini Malakar honouring Mrs. Indra Gandhi
Jaya Jaitly, in the book Vishwakarma Children, speaks of the “Story Unconcluded with regard to the injustice faced by craftspersons, particularly, women in crafts production’ she writes, Early writings pay little or no attention to the role of women in handwork, whether they were individual producers of goods or helped the menfolk by collecting the raw material or processing the product during certain stages of its manufacture. After the 1970s, as the world became more conscious of gender justice and women’s rights at the workplace, some sporadic reports and studies of women artisans, highlighted their unequal position. Amongst those under the poverty line, women have played the part of providing a supplementary income to the family by artisanal activity. A considerable number of women also head households as the sole careers in both towns and villages. Their enterprise and perseverance, as well as inherent skill in handicraft activity, have sustained and helped many to achieve a degree of financial security.
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Series of photographs at Malakar’s House
Among many such women was Lt.Katyayini Malakar, the grandmother of Ashis Malakar, who single-handedly brought up her children and sported the family by the means of the handicraft, Sholapith. The women of this family continue to work with Sholapith even today. They are given a lot of importance and respected a lot in this family and in the village, since the time Katyayani Devi made the villagers proud by setting an example of the potential of women craftspersons. Aditya Malakar, son of Katyayani Devi, was of the next generation, to have won the National award, making his mother proud. From then on, till date, his son Ashis Malakar has continued the traditional craft work. This family is mostly involved in working on large-scale decorations for which their preparations start much in advance
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Location: Bonkapasi Type of Pratice: Master Craftsman Experience: 40 years + Employment Type: Self Employed/Owner
Haro Gopal Shah Born in a Shah family, he learnt Sholarkaaj since childhood and also has many contacts in his business. He believes that not only Malakars were born to do this craft and to take it forward from generations to generation, but it is a growing concern whether the current generation wants to take this craft forward as their full-time occupation. the owner of a small factory filled with Sholapith art pieces in bonkapasi works with his sons and has a lot of people working under him as temporary labour, who he calls as and when required. He makes a variety of Shola pieces like Durga faces, shola garlands, gift items does ornamentation for large scale Durga idols, takes up large-scale projects such as weddings and also gets quite a few projects for making items for export. Haro Gopal Shah feels, that though the export market is bringing in a lot of remuneration for him over and above his regular orders, he finds it difficult to communicate his ideas sometimes to people outside West Bengal due to the difference in the language.
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Horo Gopal Shah and his son over a cup of tea
Though the market trend of ornamentation changes from one year to the other, just the way the world of Fashion sees constant changes, however Haro Gopal Shah continues to get his yearly orders from his regular customers who follow the traditional means of ornamentation ie Daak er Saaj. He says, “Traditional families come to us on the eve of Mahalaya every year for purchasing the crown for the Durga idol. They are interested in pure shola work rather than varieties.�
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Doorhanging made up of Shola
The speciality in his work is the scale. As seen in his picture album, Haro Gopal along with his team work on projects such as mandapams for weddings and decorate them with Shola, sometimes using Thermo cool and paper in addition, at times due to the extreme price hikes. However, he describes that using Thermo cool or paper is actually offensive to the craft. Haro Gopal Shah recently worked with the Government of India on a joint venture called Tribal Project. Where he preformed as a master Craftsman and taught people the handicraft of shola.
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Horo Gopal Shah and his son over a cup of tea
Horo Gopal Shah and his son over a cup of tea
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Ashok Shah Location: Bonkapasi Type of Pratice: Workshop Experience: 25 years + Employment Type: Self Employed/Owner
Apart from the skilled craftsmen there are various small scale industries creating souvenirs and cheaper shola decorative products. We found one such workshop headed by Ashok Shah. He does not come from a lineage of Malakars, but having been inspired by this craft he chose to build on his skills in this craft. Along with 9-10 more people, works in a rented workspace to complete orders from places like Kolkata or sometimes as far as Bangalore. He has been making Shola decorative pieces for about 15-20 years now and has good connections in Kumartuli (potter’s colony in Kolkata) and his business has been consistent. Ashok Shah, when in Kolkata in his childhood got inspired by this business at an early age and left his studies to learn Sholarkaaj from Kamal Malakar and Aurobindo Dada, who both reside in Shurul village. He decided to remain in his own village and start his business in this craft, as he had previously made contacts in Kolkata to supply to. Their time of working varies on a number of pieces to be finished for the order. Sometimes during the festive season, they have to sit through day and night to complete the orders. Recently he was sending 500 pieces of Durga. on a Kulo to Bangalore. The designs are made according to drawings approved by the person ordering or based on examples of previous orders The Kulo is sourced from near villages and are made by santhaal tribes. They use dried palm leaves and bamboo to make these, only to earn an extra amount apart from their everyday occupations of agriculture and fishery.
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Conclusion In earlier days Sholapith craf t used to maintain an economic bondage within the localit y as well as out side the localit y. It was the centre of bondage to maintain the interethnic relationship and also has encouraged the other craf t s. There was a direct contact bet ween the customer and the craf t sman. The jajmani system is abolished and the transaction exist s bet ween the middle man/expor ters and the craf t smen that lead to the abolition of economic independence of the craf t smen. It is interesting to note that when modern technological inf luence is striking in societ y, the traditional techniques still exist in their societ y. The workshops, in most of the cases, are not generally located in a separate room rather in a separate place adjacent to the living room, verandah or in the cour t yard. Most of the cases the condition of the workshop is ver y f ilthy, damp, clumsy and unhealthy. It is supposed that the total control
in acquiring raw material and selling of the f inished goods are under the authorit y of the traders and the Mahajan’s. Naturally, the prof it s go in favour of Mahajan’s or traders. It is noticeable fact that the ar tisans do not have any co-operative societ y, which is ver y much active among some of the other ar tisan communities of West Bengal. If the government would take direct responsibilit y for purchasing and making the ar t works, then the middlemen who do not do any of the work would not be able to make these huge prof it margins
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Glossary Kulos- Rice winower made from palm leaves by the santhal tribe, which are used asabacking to place the durga idol faces, which together are used as gift items. Daak er saj- Daak’ meaning call’ Zamindar- Land lords/land owners Malakar- The community practicing the Shola craft. Howdahs- A scat for riding on the back of an elephant or camel, typically with a canopy and accommodating two or more people. Annaprashana- A ceremony held when a child is fed his or her first meal Nabhashakha- Nine classes of artisans, Kumbhakar- The community which specializes in clay work Karmakar- The karmakats ate traditionally blacksmiths or goldsmiths by trade.
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Sankhakar-The community practicing the craft of shell carving. Swarnakar-The community of goldsmiths Laneyu- A sacred tring that the people of the highest caste wear which acts as an identity to prove they belong to the Brahmin highest) caste within the society Kath shoal. The hard quality sholapith which cannot be crafted. Bhat shoal- The softer, white, good quality sholapith. Shola Phool- sholapith Flower Mandapamse- pedestal created fora marriage among the hindu’s upon which the wedding ceremony takes place around a sacred fire Entel maati - Variety onday procured from the bed of the hoogly river to volume to clay idols. Bele Maati - A finer variety of clay also from the Hoogly river whichis used to give finishing touches
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Bibliography https://issuu.com/sahajkhetrapal/docs/ upload https://antimakhanna.com/2014/06/14/ sholapith/ http://www.ijims.com/uploads/3061d2421fc9e0fe53168.pdf http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/26032/1/IJTK%20 13(1)%20103-110.pdf http://www.cohands.in/handmadepages/pdf/246.pdf http://crafts.indianetzone.com/ sholapith.htm https://www.shatika.co.in/shatipedia/indian-crafts/sholapith-craft/ http://nanditapalchoudhuri.in/lecture/ shola.html Handmade in India- M P Ranjan
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Specail Thanks
My father Mr. S N Roy, for his support in arranging all the secondary data, contacting various people and for his presence in the background of this important project.
My mother Mrs. Papia Roy, without her the project have not been possible in manner, her support while travelling, interviewing the craftsmen, anything and everything she was there.
My Guide Mr Tarun Dey,Librarian by profession but know in and out of this craft Sholapith. Was always helping me in various aspects, intoduced to several Master Craftsmen,and other. Without him I won’t have had understood the craft in such detail and deep manner.
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