The Art of Chattisgarh

Bastar and Raigarh districts of Chhattisgarh are popular for crafting bell metal handicrafts using brass, and bronze. Tribes like Ghadwas of Bastar and Jharas of Raigarh mainly practice Dhokra art. The Loha Shilp or the use of wrought iron to create dark raw forms of the metal artifacts and figurines is another craft form of Chhattisgarh. The raw material used for this craft is mostly recycled scrap iron. Terracotta pottery represents the rituals and customs of tribal life in the state and symbolizes their emotions.

Another form of craft is the woodcraft, locals carve objects. A tribe called Badhais is skilled in this craft. Godna is possibly the most pioneering art form, currently practiced by a handful of women in Jamgala in Chattisgarh. Ladies of this village paint traditional tattoo motifs on textiles too. They use natural color obtained from the forest and combine them with acrylic paint to make it more stable on fabric. Tumba is a less known craft widely produced in the Bastar region, which originated with the widespread use of hollow gourd shells.

These are produced with materials such as terracotta, metal, bamboo and wood Handloom weaving is something very special and exclusively unique about this state. Assam has a long tradition of weaving cloths. In fact, it is a way of life in many parts of the state even today. Most households in villages possesses a loom in which they weave cloths out of cotton and many kinds of the famous Assam silk namely, ‘Pat’ and ‘Muga’. They mostly create ‘mekhela-chaddar’ (a kind of sari worn by Assamese ladies), ‘Gamosa’ (towels) and other things by weaving.