About Maharashtra : Crafts of Maharashtra : Art of maharashtra

The growth of crafts in society is a sign of the cultivation of sensitivity and the stirring and mellowing of humanism. It stands for man's endeavour to bring grace and elegance into an otherwise harsh and drab human existence. Actually, man's elevation from gross animal existence is marked by his yearning for something beyond the satisfaction of mere needs and creature comforts. It is the yearning that found natural expression in crafts. - Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay Crafts do not grow in isolation. They are basically in the service of the society. Society's culture can be measured from the arts and crafts it lived with. Arts and crafts find unhindered patronage and wide appreciation in a society that has been elevated to great cultural heights. Such society establishes values and norms that give the guidelines of life to all its members, rich and poor. Artists and craftsmen in such society exist as an integral part of it and crave to achieve excellence and reach to perfection in their work. From the law-books, the Niti-Shastra, from the writings of Manu and Kautilya, we learn the responsibility of the state and the public to protect and patronize the artists and craftsmen. The system of taxation makes it compulsory for society to foster and support the artist and craftsmen Matsya Purana mentions that every home should have a door frame in carved wood as a sign of welcome to visitors.
This tradition of carved wooden frames and carved wooden balconies supported by brackets of animals, birds, and human forms is a part of architectural design of homes, palaces and temples as well as other community places built all over India.
There are many palaces, temples and private homes in Maharashtra, in which we see plenty of intricate and charming woodwork. In places like Pune, Wai, Satara, Nasik Chandwad, Palshi, Paithan there ar Wadas (havelis) full of excellent wood carvings. Several temples in Konkan (Sindhudurg), in places like Achre, Kunkeshwar, Sawantwadi, Aakeri have pillars and projected beams very intricately carved by the local craftsmen.
Since our contemporary architecture is totally changed and has no place for any carvings or others crafts, the craft of wood carving gradually disappeared and with that vanished all our craftsmen.
When we probe into the cultural history of Maharashtra of the last three hundred years, we come across very interesting accounts of our crafts and craftsmen which have been meticulously recorded in gazetteers and reports of various collectorates during the British rule. Our crafts were shown in several exhibitions in the Western counties and they were highly praised. George C. M. Birdwood published his book, 'The Arts of India' in 1880, in which he had given plenty of information about, the then prevailing crafts in Maharashtra. Several crafts mentioned by him are not being executed today. But some major which have survived or have been revived and handed down to the present generation of craftsmen were also going through a difficult period due to lack of patronage, because under the British rule, the lifestyle of patrons of arts and crafts was also undergoing a great change.
George Birdwood had paid high tributes to the craftsmen of Maharashtra as he had given several examples of their crafts in great detail. It is very interesting to know that the Thakurs and Katharies of Matheran Hill were imaginative craftsmen who could design ornaments. Birdwood records. "Mr. W.G.S.V. Fitz Gerald sent to the Annual International Exhibition of 1872 a collection of grass ornaments worn by the wild Thakurs and Katharies of Matheran and the Western Ghats of Bombay, which had been made by Dr. T. Y. Smith, the accomplished Superintendent of that hill station, and by the side of these grass collars, necklaces, bracelets, anklets and girdles, were exhibited also examples of the gold jewellery of thick gold wire, twisted into girdles, bracelets, anklets, necklaces, and collars worn all over India and which are fashioned in gold exactly as the Matheran ornaments are fashioned in grass."
Writing about the gold jewellery, Birdwood has mentioned that, "the repousse gold jewellery of Sawantwadi in mythological design is the best in Western India." He has also stated that "the hemispherical golden ornament worn by women, both at Bombay and Cairo, on top of their heads, of which ones sees in collection such fine specimens from Sawantwadi and
Vizianagram". No goldsmiths in Sawantwadi make such ornaments today.
Some reference about wood carving in Maharashtra has already been made. From the documentation of Birdwood we come to know that the craftsmen from Sindhudurg (Ratnagiri) were experts in designing and executing carved articles for various purposes. They used Sinsapa (Shisam) or Bombay black wood and teak for various carving purposes. According to Birdwood, "teak for the beams and pillars, brackets, and door-posts and doors of native houses is carved in
Rajapur and Deogarh talukas of the Ratnagiri Collectorate."
A good deal of inlay work was being conducted in Bombay in the latter part of the 19th Century. This inlay was made up of tin wire, sandal-wood, ebony, sappan (Brazil) wood, ivory, white, and stained green, and stag horn. "Bombay inlaid work" was familiar for ornamental furniture such as book-stands, work-boxes, blotting- cases, ubiquitous glove, boxes and card cases, which go by the name of "Bombay boxes". Metal work in copper, brass and other alloys was being conducted in several places in Maharashtra for centuries. Old records reveal that there was a large manufacture of idols in all the metals at Nasik & Pune. Good brass utensils were also made at Kelshi and at Begmandli in the Ratnagiri Collectorate. Bombay Copper Bazaar was also equally known as recorded by Birdwood. He had observed that: "The most active industry in the town of Bombay is the manufacture of brass and copper pots and other untensils in universal use among natives of India. The Cooper Bazaar opposite Mombadevi Tank is the busiest and the noisiest, and one, of the most delightful streets in all the native town. Mr. Terry states (Maclean's Guide to Bombay) that, there are 1,069 coppersmiths, and 1,536 blacksmiths in Bombay." That Copper Bazaar of Bombay does not exist now. In today's stainless steel age', hand made metal crafts cannot survive. But in Nasik, even today there are hundreds of craftsmen who have their workshops and shops in a particular lane known as Tambat Ali. Some of the craftsmen can still execute untensils and vessels with traditional designs. Objects such as ghangal, abhishek patra, ghagar (water pot), pan-patra, laman-diwa (hanging oil lamp), samai etc are today collected by art loving people as decorative objects and not as objects of utility. Several highly artistic craft objects such as kalamdan, pan-dan, nutcracker (adkitta), foot scrubbers, toilet box, pali (spoon) for rituals and various types of oil lamps, which we see in Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, Pune and in other collections may have been executed in Nasik and Pune. Murbad is also known for copper and brass work. Along with other utility vessels Murbad produces miniature kitchen vessels and utensils as toy objects for girls to play with and get education for becoming future housewives. Diemaking craft of Parola in Jalgaon district is one of the surviving crafts of Maharashtra. In Parola there lives a family name Jade who have been practicing the craft of diemaking for the last four generations. Some diemaker families have also settled in Virar and Sopara near Bombay. They make dies, fully hand carved, without the use of a pantograph. They have also developed their own carving instrument out of hard steel, which are numbering about two hundred. Dies are carved on thick bronze plates and the bronze is obtained from South India in the form of old traditional utensils especially the thick serving plates. Images of Gods and Goddesses are carved into dies, negative and positive and the print is taken on relatively thick silver or copper foil. The icon is known as take and used for worshiping. It is sold in the shops situated near temples. Maharashtra can boast of producing a variety of textiles. The Marathas extended their patronage to industrial and other textile activities after they succeeded the Mughals. They adopted some forms of Islamic fashions. But their special regard for traditional Hindu garments encouraged the development of textile centres. Following is the list of centres along with their products: Paithan- asavali or paithani saris pitambara, kinkhab. Yeola- paithani, jamdani, pitambara Aurangabad- himroo and mashru Balapur & Sangamner- chandrakala saris Daulatabad- muslin Ter- muslin, cotton Shahugad- shahugadi Nasik & Pune- brocade Nagpur- Silk bordered dhotis Amravati & Bhir- pasodi saris Solapur Kolhapur & Tuljapur- khanas, cotton Ahmednagar- all types of cotton Dharwad- khanas, dharwadi saris Pandharpur- ghongodi, pasodi, pitambara Akola- pasodi, shela Out of all these products, paithani, himroo, mashru and brocade are the special types of textiles and they are rich in both, the material and craftsmanship. However, in brocade, Banaras excels, hence Pune and Nasik cannot compete with it. Mashru is a mixed variety of striped cotton and silk weave. It was generally used by the ladies as an undergarment. The basic warp is of silk and the weft is of various colored cottons. The term mashru is derived from share, meaning "legal". The weaving of pure silk fabrics at prayers was prohibited among the Muslims and hence this pattern was introduced. Paithan and Aurangabad were the famous centres of mashru production. Himroo is a similar variety of mixed silk and cotton but with a texture that is almost as fine as muslin. It is used as veils, head-dresses, bridal robes and saris. It is costlier than mashru. Paithani is the most costly high quality silken gold embroidered textile which has an interesting history. Paithani is called as Mahavsatra. Against this broad historical backdrop we can now see which crafts of Maharashtra have overcome the dark periods and once again re-established their vital existence to arrest the attention of the art lovers and connoisseurs of the present times. Some crafts have inevitably disappeared because of the changing environment and the life style of contemporary Indian society. Some crafts were totally neglected and forgotten. But some traditional craftsmen who used to produce their craftsmen who used to produce their crafts with high degrees of excellence patiently suffered the isolation when their craft lost patronage. However they preserved their technique in the lean period and waited for things to change. Things did change after Independence and new opportunities were offered to them. Once again they rose to the occasion and produced their art objects with the same dexterity and aesthetic vision which was once considered as a hall mark in the world of specialized crafts. This is a story of the revival of Paithani- the rich silken gold embroidered sari of Paithan. Another example is of a traditional goldsmith applying his technique to produce the imaginative silver jewellery. Today the silver jewellery of Hupri (near Kolhapur) is considered the best in the country. Revival of lacquer work and other crafts of Sawantwadi is another interesting story. The rich traditional craft of Chitaris (painters) of Sawantwadi had almost vanished a few years ago. Today this world famous crafts has been revived and the new generation of craftsmen are engaged in creating their craft objects with the same traditional skill. Maharashtra can take pride in these three revived crafts which we shall now study in depth.