Kite (patang or guddi in Punjab) flying has been one of the major cultural activities for the people of the Subcontinent, especially of Punjab. Kite flying is popular on Lohri and Baisakhi. Kite flying festivals and competitions were popular even before and during the time of Maharajah Ranjit Singh and remained so in undivided Punjab,...
Kashmiri papier-mâché is a handicraft of Kashmir based primarily on paper pulp, and is a richly decorated, colourful artifact; generally in the form of vases, bowls, or cups (with and without metal rims), boxes, trays, bases of lamps, and many other small objects. These are made in homes, and workshops, in Srinagar, and other parts...
Near the historic Khanqah-e-Moula in Srinagar, is a small shop of copper ware of artisan Mohammad Aslam Bhat. Named Vanposh, the shop has a unique collection of copper items like a spinning wheel (yender in Kashmiri), beautifully handcrafted clocks, table lamps and other creative items made of copper. Bhat learnt the craft from his maternal...
As with most other crafts of Kashmir, history has it that the Sufi Saint, Mir Syed Ali Hamdani ,who travelled from Central Asia was instrumental in making copper popular in Kashmir. He brought craftsmen from central Asia to train locals. However, the copperware craft flourished during the reign of King Budshah Zain-ul- Abideen. In the...
60 year old Muhammad Yousuf,a Kashmiri footwear maker, has kept alive the centuries-old tradition of making footwear (Pulhoor) with paddy straw. Resident of Zantrag village in Khrew, Pampore, he not only makes the traditional footwear but also several other items with straw, including mats, covers for cups, straps for wooden slippers and baskets. Yousuf learnt...
Amritpal Singh is an award winning, third generation chess-maker. This work was started by his grandfather who crafted various items out of ivory and white sandalwood. After both of these were banned, they started using wood. Commonly used wood types are: papri (boxwood), tali (sheesham), acacia, aabnoos and red sandalwood. For chess pieces papri is...
Rupinder Singh Jabbal, grandson of Sardar Harbhajan Singh Jabbal, the famous theater artist from Amritsar, is the 4th generation craftsman making wooden combs (kanga). His son, now the 5th generation also is a craftsman and works in the family business. Sardar Harbhajan Singh Jabbal was born on 1st October,1941 to Smt. Beant Kaur Ghatora in...
Papier-mâché is the French word for “chewed paper”, which is a standard English loan word, for objects made by moulding paper pulp in various shapes and then decorating them with designs in various colours. In the figurative sense the word ‘papier-mâché’ has come to be identified as the art of Kashmir. It is based primarily...
The word pashm means “wool” in Persian, but in Kashmir, pashm referred to the raw unspun wool of domesticated Changthangi goats. In common parlance today, pashmina may refer either to the material or to the variant of the Kashmir shawl that is made from it. Samples of wool fibres discovered from corroded copper artifacts from...
A Kani shawl is a type of Kashmir shawl originating from the Kanihama area of the Kashmir valley. The shawls are woven from pashmina yarn. The government of Jammu and Kashmir has granted a geographical indication to the Kani shawl, making it illegal to sell shawls made outside of the Kanihama area as Kani shawls....
