A Socio- Economic Analysis of Kashida & Baawan Buti
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A SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF KASHIDA & BAAWAN BUTI OF BIHAR: THE ILLUSTRIOUS PAST, CONTEMPORARY NEGLECT & HOPES FOR THE FUTURE Anshul Maudar, Harshit Rana & Kartikeya Bhatotia Email ID: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Abstract: The Eastern Indian state of Bihar is home to a rich tradition of handicrafts that have been practised by the people of the state for generations. Among these crafts, Kashida and Baawan Buti are one of the foremost. However, while other handicrafts and art forms like Bihar’s Madhubani paintings have been revived and commercialized, these two exquisite crafts have suffered systematic institutional neglect which has led to the marginalization of a once thriving community of craftsmen whose numbers have been steadily declining. This has threatened these crafts with extinction. Kashida is an ancient form of embroidery practised in Bihar, Karnataka and Kashmir. While the forms indigenous to the latter are well known and commercialized, the form of Kashida native to Bihar, called Bharua Kashida is embroidered on items of domestic use, like blouses, wraps, table linens etc. and has become obscure over time. It is mainly practised by women belonging to marginalized communities. Baawan Buti (literally meaning 52 motifs) is practised primarily in the Nalanda district of Bihar and utilizes silk and cotton fabric with a scheme of at least 52 motifs using handlooms. These are used in sarees, curtains, bedsheets etc. While a World Bank supported project has already tried to resuscitate the craft, the craftsmen and women still complain of a very small number of orders. The paper relies heavily on primary research and fieldwork including copious interviews with craftsmen, master weavers, village elders, government officials and historians in the Bhojpur, Nalanda and Patna districts of Bihar. The paper will shed light on multiple facets including the interplay of caste and gender in the production of these crafts; how women, immured in households, practised these crafts as a form of leisure and looked upon their creations as a matter of prestige and how the craft was incorrectly thought of as belonging to the lower castes. Since the death of Upendra Maharathi, a towering figure in the handicraft revival movement in Bihar, these crafts have been ignored by the government. The paper looks at how they have been oversimplified as exotic items and the livelihood and survival of those making them, has been ignored. An examination of the political, administrative and ideological angle of this sad state of affairs will also be discussed. Most importantly, the paper will discuss how the revival of these crafts, through attempts to commercialize them by NGOs or through an integration with tourism development, can lead to the socio-economic progress and empowerment of millions of families. This study provides a unique insight into the cross section of revival, tourism, flawed societal perceptions, financial inclusion and social empowerment. Lastly, the paper will examine how other successful revival projects can be used as a template for the revival of these crafts and will also critique the efforts of organizations and government authorities that are trying to bring about a change. INTRODUCTION The word kash can alternatively be translated as a water channel or a Semitic tribe. The terms kasuti, kari and kashida synonymously designate embroidery (Dhamija, 1970). It is an intricate art that is perfomed by skilled artisans using their hands. Kashida is practised on cloth, leather or any other similar materials with the help of needle and thread. Some expert artisans even use gold and silver wires. Basically, kashida is part of a cottage industry which involves almost all members of the family. However, the art work, especially in Bihar is done primarily by women. Whereas, kashida in Kashmir is practised by both men and women. In the Bhojpur district of Western Bihar, the art is extensively practiced by many households and is colloquially referred to as Bharua Kasida. KASHIDA: AN INTRICATE ART Before we delve into our research findings, we feel that it is essential to describe the art to the reader so that one can appreciate the beauty of this art. This, in many ways, strengthens our desire to work towards preserving it. A prominent mention of Kashida can be found in a volume of the Marg Magazine. Recent works on Indian Embroidery hardly mention the variety and tradition of Bihar embroidery. It was only in the MARG issue on Embroidery that the richness of Bihar Embroidery was brought to public notice. Actually, it is only recently, through the pioneering efforts of the Bihar Government and the All India Handicrafts Board, that the wealth of its folk arts and crafts is being recognised all over India1 This introduction to the description on Kashida is a testament to the decline in the awareness of this art among people especially those in urban areas. As mentioned earlier, Kashida is practiced primarily by women who embroider motifs on articles of personal use like blouses, baby caps, sashes, pillow cases and bolsters. Kashida consists of three different stitches. The first one is colloquially called Jhinkana. This is basically a chain-stitch where the needle is actually pulled through the cloth. The name of this stitch is derived from the soft noise that the needle makes when it is pulled through the cloth. This stitch follows the design that is drawn on the cloth and does not take the texture of the material into account. This type of stitch is extensively used in adorning the blouses that are worn by women. This stitch is not rigid and provides enough freedom to the artisan to develop designs that are inspired by patterns that can be seen in the environment around us. Common motifs that follow this type of stitch are those of peacocks or elephants with riders on their backs or of a necklace with a heavy pendant attached to it. The next type of stitch which is very popular is the Bharat. This stitch is very similar to the one which is performed all over the entire surface of the fabric in the Bagh and Phulkari traditions native to the North Indian state of Punjab. This one, unlike Jhinkana, follows the warp and weft of the material and thereby causes the designs to be more restricted to shapes like squares, rectangles, wavy lines, diamonds or flower motifs which follow very basic geometrical shapes. This stitch is generally done on red cloth with a combination of white, yellow and bottle green thread. If white is used as the colour of the base cloth, then 1 Jasleen Dhamija. "Survey of Crafts." Marg, December 1966, 16-42. the threads used are generally black or steel blue. In the case of Bharat, it is the neatness of the stitch coupled with the colour combination employed that confers aesthetic appeal to the work. Bharat is used to cover the base cloth fully and a lot of floral designs similar to the ones that are seen in Phulkari are used. The third popular stitch is actually a development from Bharat. In this an outline is developed using a black coloured double running stitch. The design is then filled by long and short stitches of satin. Recently, Kashida designs have been combined with Applique in which a combination of cloth pieces with woven tapes and laces are used. The tradition of the Awalkhana which was described above has an interesting consequence: if we closely observe the variety of designs that are used to adorn the blouses worn by women, one will rarely witness any repetition. This is because, the tradition of the Awalkhana promotes innovation and allows women to experiment with new designs. The imagination and the innovation of the women involved in this art is par excellence and they effectively manifest their skill through this art2 BAAWAN BUTI: 52 MAGICAL MOTIFS The Baawan Buti on the other hand is a detailed form of embroidery which has intricate handwoven motifs (buti) on sarees and curtains. There was a time when the weavers of the Baswan Bigha village of Bihar supplied beautifully patterned handmade curtains and fabrics to Rashtrapati Bhawan. This practice suffered hard times due to lack of interest and investment from later central governments and mismanagement by state authorities. Recently it was revived under the patronage of the Asian Heritage Foundation along with active involvement from World Bank and the Japan Development Social Fund There is an acute paucity of literature about the Baawan Buti tradition which is prevalent in the Nalanda district of Bihar. The tradition of Baawan Buti is greatly inspired by Buddhist tradition and is symbolic of capturing a snapshot of the cosmos through motifs of artefacts that are made on a saree which is roughly six yards in length. Each saree must have at least “baawan” (Hindi for 52) motifs. This tradition has prospered in Nalanda district where a lot of these textiles were popular among the large number of tourists who used to visit the ancient ruins of the city of Nalanda that are located in the district. The tradition particularly prospered in the Baswan Bigha village where a very large number of artisans were involved in this work. The textile is mostly made on jacquard looms, framed looms or pit looms. The textile is prepared using vertical (warp) threads that extend across the fabric. Generally, the artisan sits on the loom and works on horizontal (weft) threads. Baawan Buti bears resemblance to satin stitch embroidery and the motifs that are found on these fabrics are usually around 2 inches in length and could be arranged in an alternating fashion or in a continuous line.