Ghulam Nabi Kenzu, of Baba Mohalla, Dal Lake,smokes a hookah, taking a break from his busy schedule of making shikaras to cater to the rising tourist foot fall in Srinagar. The shikara has become a cultural symbol of Kashmir. Like the Venetian gondolas, it is a wooden boat found on Dal Lake and other water...
Polishing is a necessary stage in many manufacturing processes. Architectural metal, cookware, kitchenware, metal automobile parts, etc are some of the products that are polished before they reach the market. In other cases, metals can be polished as part of general repairs or restoration. Metal polishing is a finishing method that uses an abrasive material...
Art apart, the metal, particularly brass, has remained the most important utility object in India since time immemorial. The use of brass was, thus, apparently considerable. According to J.L. Kipling, Principal, Mayo School of Art, Lahore; 65,468 maunds of brass was imported into Punjab in 1882-83. Rewari, Jagadhri, Amritsar, Jandiala, Phagwara, Gujranwala, Pindi Dadan Khan...
Through out the world, in Europe, especially the Greek culture (& mythologies), China and the Asia, in all the paddy growing regions, a traditional handmade rice winnower (made of bamboo, reed, palm leaf, plant fibres – depending on the region and material availability) has been used. Winnowing is a process by which chaff is separated...
A waghoo/ wagoo/ waguv is a traditional reed mat usually spread underneath the sitting rugs, found in every Kashmiri home. Its purpose is to ensure that the rug holds onto the floor and doesn’t fold. It is a 300-year-old craft that involves interweaving reed and rice straws together to create a matting which provides warmth...
During Ramzan special breads are made such as the Lacha Bagerkhane (Warke Bagerkhane), Makie Wor (Sugar-free Kulcha), Butter Roti, Lawasa, Kripa, Namkeen and Sweet Roti. The culinary art of baking in Kashmir can be traced to Central Asia, although some might argue that the British introduced it. Kashmir being on the famed ’Silk Route, was...
Ghulam Muhammad Zaz is an artist from Zaina Kadal, from downtown Srinagar (Shehar-i-Khaas). He is known for making Santoor and other handcrafted traditional musical instruments. He is known to be the last Santoor maker of Kashmir. On 26 January 2023, at the age of 82, he was honoured with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian...
Baba Gurdeep Singh is a well known roadside dentist of Amritsar. Hailing from Village Kallah, near the historical Naurangabad Village, district Tarn Taran, Punjab, he learnt the craft of making dental cement teeth from him paternal uncle at the age of 15. At the age of 65, he is the fourth generation in this work...
Kashmir, has had a long history of the art of stone carving, especially as sculpture. There were thousands of families directly earning their livelihood from this work across Kashmir valley, however, the numbers are dwindling fast and only a few hundred remain. The person who molds the stones is called as Sangtaraash locally in Kashmir....
82-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Wani from Namblabal, Pampore, in Pulwama district, is one of the last few keeping the tradition of ox-driven mills alive in Kashmir. Ghulam Mohammad Wani, known as Mum Wani, has been working in his mill for the last six decades, since he was in class 5, when he learnt it from his...
