Ashok Sharma
Since times immemorial, rural art and craft formed an important part of our culture and heritage. People in the villages and towns were interdependent on one another for the services provided by artisans and craftsmen such as carpenters, blacksmiths, potters, weavers, bamboo splitters etc for various services,tools and implements and would generally pay foodgrains in return for these services. It is sad and unfortunate that this valuable art and craft which formed an integral part of our everyday life and culture in the olden days is fast disappearing and fading into oblivion.Gone are the days when artisans in villages,such as blacksmiths,carpenters,bamboo splitters,weavers,etc .would fulfil the needs and requirements of agricultural and other tools and implements of the farmers throughout the whole year and then would come after six months to receive their half yearly share of grains in return for the services they had provided to the villagers. Even the scavangers would take half yearly charges in return for disposing of the carcasses of dead animals.The bamboo articles were more used than others as a number of things could be made from bamboos.The bamboo splitter would split bamboos and then make baskets for use of the farmers in throwing cowdung to the fields and soil on the roof of the at the time of making new kutcha buildings.He would also make other items by splitting bamboos.These items included granaries or’pands’ for storing grains,bakhaar(big baskets) for carying sweets and fried delicacies to the relatives at the time of auspacious occassions and functions such as marriage,mundan,sutra etc.Containers called ‘Fekris’ and ‘shabries’ would also be made from bamboos and straw for storing chapaties and other things.The bamboo splitter would also make big bamboo umbrellas which were covered with the leaves of camel foot tree and used as shelter from rain during the rainy season to keep a vigil on the cattle which would be tethered in the fields.tairs for the villagers.But with the passage of time and amidst modern technology, ‘pands’have altogether disappeared and replaced by iron and steel containers and fekris and shabris by casseroles.
The rural women would also not sit idle when there was no work pertaining to the crops.They would weave round ‘binnas'(rugs) and oblong mats( ‘baisaks’) for their guests to sit on and also for domestic use.These binnas were made from grass, straw,stalks of paddy plants,covering of maize cob and palm leaves.They would be coloured red,pink and other vibrant colours to give them beautiful look and proudly hang them on their walls as ornamental pieces.The women used to make another kind of binnas from cloth,palm leaves,grass etc.used on the head to balance the pitchers of water brought from wells and bowlies.Then the women folk would make hand fans,small baskets (kaandus), from palm leaves,paddy straw and cloth.They would be presented to the guests as and when they visited them. They would also make ‘doona pattal’ from the leaves of camel foot tree (malungar) to serve as plate and bowl at the time of marriage or other functions.They would also make clay containers called ‘kohl’ which were used to store flour andclay ‘taks’ for keeping everday things such as tea, sugar, salt, mirrors etc.These were biodegradable and posed no threat to the environment and were used for serving food at the time of functions such as marriages bhandaras etc.
The rural women would also knit sweaters, caps, mufflers etc for the members of their families and relatives. It was primarily the duty of the village carpenter to make tools and implements such as sickle, spade, axe, shovel, plough, yoke,plough and construct kucha buildings by using wooden planks and columns. They also used to make a Wooden tool called ‘pheen’ for winnowing and separating grains from chaff of crops such as paddy and wheat.For ginning of cotton,they would make ‘panji’ with which the people would gin cotton in times of leisure. The carpenter would also make wooden’parat’ for leavekening flour,’karshi'(ladle) for serving dishes, ‘pie’ for measuring grains, ‘deond’ (wooden stand) for keeping the oil lamp to light the room ,wooden churn (‘madani’)for extracting butter and ghee from the curd and ‘chowki’ for the guests to sit on.Similarly,the blacksmith would make iron articles such as shears, sickle,knives,shovels axes,pickaxe etc and provide these to the farmers for reaping crops, digging soil, cutting trees and foliage etc.
Then there was the valuable art of pottery.The potter used to make earthernwares such as pitcher which used to be highly admired and appreciated by people,especially in summer when water in the pitchers would remain cool.Pitchers were usually gifted to the daughters on the eve of the festival of ‘Tamdey’ or ‘Mingeraan’ in the month of Saawan.Potters would also make earthern pots called ‘kunnis’which were used to store milk,yoghurt,butter ghee etc.,which were kept in ‘shikas’-a network of interwoven ropes. The pulses cooked in these earthern pots on woodan fire was highly relished. Milk,curd,butter and ghee were also kept in the earthern vessels.The village weavers would also make their valuable contributions by weaving blankets,coats and ‘lois’ from the wool of sheep.The people in villages would rear sheep and goat whose wool was used for making these exquisite and warm coats, blankets, sweaters etc.Then there used to be water mills which would grind flour of wheat and maize. The flour of maize ground by these mills was in great demand and highly valued as the cakes prepared from it would be tasty and were often reli.The villagers would remove the husk of paddy by crushing the paddy in a stone mortar with a wooden pestle.The demand of oil was met by the kolhus which would operate with the help of ox and buffalo.The oil made from the sarson seed was pure and unadulterated. Even jaggery (gur) used to be prepared from the sugarcane juice boiled in big cauldrons and then turned into cakes called ‘rewdis’ which were highly nutritious and popular both with the rural and urban people.The people in villages were also self dependent on ropes, cords etc which were made from the fibres of hemp(genus cannabis)’san’ or from the branches of the tree called ‘dhaman’ (Grewia optiva) by dipping them in water for many days till they rotted and fibres came out.Then the fibres would be converted into ropes and cots made from them.The sculptor too would carve stones for use in temples and bowlies.Often the figures of local gods and goddesses would be engraved.With the passsage of time, divans and double beds came into vogue and cots have almost disappeared except in remote and hilly areas.’Charkha'(spinning wheel) was another wooden item which used to be given as an item of dowry at the time of marriage of girls.It was a useful item which helped the poor rural folk in being self reliant in making their clothes themselves.
In the days of yore,people in villages led a peaceful and corporate life far from the din and noise of factories,vehicles etc.They were interdependent on one another especially on local artisans such as potter,carpenter,bamboo splitter,blacksmith and even barbers who would do their hard work with dedication and devotion and would get grains after six months or a year from each household.This art and craft would serve twin purposes.On the one hand , it would make the artisans self dependent and on the other hand, it would bring the local people together and help in transmitting the art to the prosterity.But with the invent of modern technology and in wake of fast life and flow of money, the role of village carpenters, barbers, blacksmiths etc has been confined to some rituals at the time of occassions such as marriages, namkaran ceremonies,mundan etc. The rural people including women devote more time in gossiping and watching TV. They have lost taste for making all these things with the result that the valuable art and craft is vanishing fast. Though the state government has taken several measures to promote rural art and craft such as carpet weaving, pashmina shawls,woodwork,papier mache etc.,more efforts need to be taken to preserve and promote rural art and craft such as bamboo articles,rural ironware,articles made from, straw and leaves,pottery items etc.It can be done by organising exhibitions of such articles and honouring and training artisans and craftsmen.It is time that younger generation was also exposed to this leisurely activity and the government took urgent measures to promote and preserve rural handicraft by introducing modern technolgy,tools and implements to provide livelihood to the people on the one hand and and to prevent the ageold art and craft from dying a slow death and vanishing into oblivion as it forms an integral part of our ancient art and culture.
(The writer is serving as lecturer in English in Govt.Hr.Sec.School,Udhampur)
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