The Art and Culture of Bangladesh
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West Bengal, situated to the north-east of the Indian peninsula, though a small state in terms of extent, displays in one or other of its areas, all the geophysical natures of the subcontinent. West Bengal's rich and living traditions of handicrafts often transcend the political boundaries that divide the people of Bengal today. These craft traditions are primarily folk in character and are related closely to the area's geographic conditions and the resultant rich traditions of folk music, literature and culture. In the products and processes of the craftswomen and men lives the traditions of thousands of years of Bengali history and culture. The forgotten folk gods and goddesses from the mangalkabyas, the cultural mix of Muslims and Hindus at the rural level still manifest themselves in the crafts. It is often far from the big cities where history is made and preserved. Handicrafts of West Bengal keep that history, which is frequently not even known by the city folks, alive.
In spite of their particular regional and local characteristics, however, the handicrafts of West Bengal are not divorced from the broader social and cultural heritage of India. Like other Indian crafts, their cultural fabric and expression are based on religion, rituals and frequently caste.
Most of the craftsmen are from the third tier of the Hindu caste system, the Vaisyas. With time a lot has changed in terms of the caste composition of the Indian society. However, traditional handicrafts are still mostly created by the people of the respective trade based castes. With the influence of Islam and associated conversions to Islam of many craftspeople, the sphere of the form and content of the crafts changed. Still in many cases particular skills remained family traditions, even when that was not dictated by caste.
The traditional nine craftspeople castes are:
Even in West Bengal, where caste considerations play a less visible role in day to day life, almost all small towns and villages still have localities where people of particular trade castes stay and practice their crafts.
Some of the traditional living crafts of West Bengal are the following:
My son, who says your nose is small?
I've brought clay form the lake of joy,
And will set it right.Nursery Rhyme in Bengal
An hour's travel or less, almost anywhere in West Bengal, will take you to a village where at least few families of traditional potters still make the beautiful low temperature unglazed pottery that their forefathers have been making since time immemorial.
The potters of Bengal, like potters elsewhere in India, are conservative, traditionally averse to change. Over thousands of years, they have been making pottery and other ceramic ware to meet the domestic, ritual and ceremonial needs of the equally conservative community around them. Change comes almost imperceptibly to match the slow pace of evolution of life-styles around them. The traditional potters of West Bengal belong to a specific craft caste, the Kumbhakars or Kumors. Probably the only exceptions are the Muslim potters in Murshidabad district.
Women traditionally do the finishing, decorating and painting of the pots.
Image removed for copyright reasons A shrine for Shiva
A village shrine where ritual animal toys are offered as thanksgiving.
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Manasa Chali, Panchumura Village, Bankura
An elaborately decorative piece consisting of four main parts and numerous detachable heads of snakes. Manasa is folk goddess, the queen of snakes and is worshipped by the villagers to protect against snake bite. Manasa is worshipped in the form of a Chali. This Chali is about 1 meter high.
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The terracotta temples built in during 15th to 17th century show the skill and imagination of the potters of Bengal at their best. During the 14th and 15th centuries, a number of mosques and mausoleums were built by the Muslims adopting local village architectural form of thatched house and using terracotta to decorate the outer surface. Later, however under cultural influence of the Mughals in Delhi the mosques of Bengal lost their local flavor and acquired a Mughal look. The Hindu temples then became the sole bearers of a local tradition which had been initiated by Muslims.
Many of these Hindu temples show signs of experimental efforts to integrate representation of iconographic figures, images of Hindu gods and goddesses, with fine floral and geometric designs adopted from the mosques. Some examples are temples in Bainchigram (Hoogly-1580), Rainagar (Jessore, Bangladesh-1588), Gorkana (Murshidabad-1590) and Baidyapur (Burdwan-1598).
Lakshmi's gilded basket spills over with wealth
But is Saraswati's humble mat
On which sits wisdom.An old Bengali proverb
These crafts are used to make widely used household and gift items. Baskets find a great variety of uses in rural Bengal. In its warm, humid climate, the mat is the most popular floor covering to sit or to sleep on. Variations in local climate, materials, ways of life and traditions in different region and among different ethnic groups have lent a rich variety of shapes, forms and textures to both mats and basketry and a great diversity in the manner of their use.
The most popular of the mats produced in Bengal is the madur. Its production has now taken on an organized scale by weavers of the Mahishya caste mainly in the southern parts of the district of Midnapore, the largest district in West Bengal which covers the whole coastal area of the state, west of the river Ganges. The madur mat is woven on a simple bamboo frame loom. The warp is cotton thread and the weft a soft thin reef, madur kathi, cultivated in the Sabong and Ramnagar areas of Midnapore district. Three types of madur are made in Midnapore. Ekhrokha, dorokha and masland. Masland is a very fine textured mat made of carefully selected reeds with beautiful geometric design woven on it.
Image removed for copyright reasons The woman, with the help of a child is weaving a madur mat for her own use or to give as a gift. The inscription on the mat reads "For the youngest elder brother's marriage, a gift with love".
Another type of mat is sitalpati, which is popular but more expensive. These are made in the northern Cooch Behar district of West Bengal (also in states of Tripura, Assam and in the neighboring country of Bangladesh). The word sitalpati means cool mat. The makers are usually Kayasthas in caste, not a traditional craftspeople caste. The raw material is the Mutra cane. It is kept soaking in water before it is slashed into thin strips for making the pati. Sagareswar, Ghughumari and Pashnadanga in Cooch Behar are the most important centers of sitalpati.
In between these two major types, numerous different varieties of mats are woven and used all over Bengal. Muslim women of Birbhum district are well known the mats woven from strips of date-palm leaves with interesting geometric patterns. Chatai mats are made from the fan shaped leaves of the palmyra palm without any cotton thread. These are made and used extensively in Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia districts.
Image removed for copyright reasons Bamboo is the most popular and important raw material for basket makers. Sometimes the basket maker has a bamboo grove of his own adjoining his hut, but more often are bought from well-to-do farmers. More than hundred species of bamboos are grown all over India, about half of them in the eastern and north eastern regions. Not all types are suitable for basket making. However almost all types of bamboos find numerous uses from making bridges to disciplining children. Besides bamboo, coiled baskets are also made of cane and a tall flowering grass called kash. Kash and other straw baskets are usually made by rural Muslims. Cane baskets are made from a type of thin cane available in north Bengal.
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In addition to traditional baskets, the basket makers manufacture winnowing fan called kulo (it is used in many rituals besides its day to day use), aqueducts called dalas bowl shaped basket called chupris, fish and animal traps etc.
The basket makers of Bengal generally belong to the lowest strata of caste hierarchy - Doms, Namasudras, Bagdis and other similar castes along with poor Muslim and tribal people. It is usually a rural family activity. However in North Calcutta there is a large community of Basket makers in Rambagan. Despite economic deprivation, these groups in addition to the rich traditions of their crafts, are bearers of colourful folk cultures that bring jobs, vitality and vibrancy to what would otherwise be a drab daily routine.
A stitch in time
A different stitch
Will stop the queen's bickering itchA Santhal Song
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The art of embroidery is practiced all over the world mainly by women and the product is often for domestic use. As an expression of local culture, embroidery in West Bengal has three distinct style: kantha with folk motifs, chikan,jari and kashida in Islamic tradition and modern. Of these three, kantha is the most typical and also the most creative.
Kanthas are traditionally worked by village women on old cloth, mainly soft discarded dhotis and saris. Layers of clothes are held together by running stitches. The number of layers used depends on the purpose for which the kantha is being made. The top and bottom layers are always of light color or white so that the effect of embroidery is prominent. Kanthas meant as quilts are called Lep-kantha, those designed as counterpanes are called sujanikantha. Kanthas are also used as covers for boxes and mirrors, as pillowcases, as stoles and shawl, as diapers and receiving clothes for babies. It is usually individual woman's artistic spirit and are not mass produced. It is also usually not for sale. It is invariably made either for a near relative or friend as a token of love or regard, or just for its own sake - as one might write a poem or compose a song.
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Elaborately decorated pieces like this one are generally made by upper caste Hindu women. Decorations around the circular central theme generally have some story elements.
In Bengal kanthas are made by both Muslim and Hindu women of all castes and class. Those made by Muslim women have geometric and floral motifs, while Hindus use a variety of forms from the world around, arranged in interesting ways, usually around a central design of floral motifs. The later, therefore tend to display more variety and freedom of expression. Kanthas made by Muslim women have a more sophisticated appearance and generally show a fine craftsmanship. Muslim women use old sari borders to edge their kanthas, which is seldom done by Hindu women.
Image removed for copyright reasons This is a very unusual kantha with sharp deviations of space. It mixes Santhal ritual figures with the motifs traditionally found in sophisticated saris. The floral motifs in the temple domes are adaptations of wheat straw decorations made by farmers of the western districts of Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia.
The other traditional styles of embroidery styles in Bengal are the chikan and zari embroidery of the Hoogly and Howrah districts. It has its roots in the sophisticated urban Muslim culture of North India and its origin can be traced back to the Mughal courts. Very fine and delicate floral decorations are embroidered on muslin or other cotton clothes of similar fine texture.
Kashida, the traditional silk embroidery on cotton which was at one time exported from Bengal, had its main centers around Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh and Murshidabad, the pre-British Bengal capital. Now it is almost unknown except for few craftsmen in Calcutta who make prayer caps and head scarves for upper class Muslims.
Fill the metal pot to the brim, dear maiden
Fill it with waters from the Padma..
My boat will carry your silent longing
Even as you dip your polished pitcher in the river...A Bhatiali song
There are two main types of brass and bell metal work in West Bengal. The first type is metal sculpture and the second is the craft of making utensils. Both the types of craftsmanship are at the risk of extinction with the change in habit of the consumers and the prohibitive cost these items compared to the commercially produced items for similar use.
The Gharua and Dhokra Kamar tribes are the traditional metal workers of West Bengal. They used to be semi-nomadic and are closely related to the Malhars of Bihar and Situlias of Orissa. They live in the districts of Bankura, Burdwan, Midnapore and the Purulia districts which are all close to Chhotonagpur area of Bihar. In West Bengal the Dhokra Kamars live close to non-tribal villages and all but given up their nomadic ways. They use a lost-wax process to cast hollow brass objects and images.
Image removed for copyright reasons There are now only about 60 families of Dhokra Kamars living in West Bengal. Of these some 25 families live in Dariapur village of in the district of Burdwan, some 15 families live on the outskirts of Bankura town and the rest live scattered in the districts of Midnapore, Malda and Purulia. They are now forced to change their traditional products with the hope of gaining urban market for decorative wares. This trend met with only limited success.
Image removed for copyright reasons Other than the Dhokra Kamars there is hardly any living tradition of metal sculpture and image making in the plains of West Bengal. Few families at Nabadwip in Nadia make small religious and decorative icons. In the Bhawanipur and Chitpur area of Calcutta, there are a few craftsmen making similar figurines.
The other group of Metal workers work with copper and its alloys and are known as Kansaris or Kangsakars. One group of Kansaris come from the blacksmiths and the other from the carpenters and wood carving caste. They mastered the art of mixing the kansa alloy (seven parts of copper and one part of tin) and the method of making shapes by beating and hammering. They do not cast or die-cast their ware. Another group of metal workers working with brass sometime use mould and die-casting in addition to hammering.
Image removed for copyright reasons Most of their wares serve as serving and storage utensils. The design and shape of these eating utensils form an independent school in Bengal. Each of the few famous centers has its special designs like chakaibati of Tamluk (Midnapore), chamby bati and phero of Karangas (Susunia region -Bankura) and different kalsis of Bishnupur (Bankura). Another common utensil used by people of the western part of the state including the Santhal and Mundari tribes is jambati, a large beautifully proportioned heavy metal bowl.
Image removed for copyright reasons Unfortunately, craftsmanship in metal has suffered a decline in last 50 years and quite a few magnificent shapes have disappeared altogether. In cities and towns traditional metalware is almost completely replaced by stainless steel, glazed earth-ware and plastic. Even in villages aluminum is pushing out kansa as the utensil of choice. The tradition of presenting set of bell-metal utensils as a gift to a bride has so far saved the craft from extinction.
Source: The Crafts of West Bengal
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