indian art

The outlook of Indian crafts portrays many descriptions and shades of meaning that reflect interactions with socio-economic, cultural, and religious forces. The crafts manifest themselves in the pervasive household products crafted with originality from local materials, skills, and labours.

In an environmentally woke world, we can never ignore the hazardous impact of non-biodegradable products. Plastics take thousands of years to decompose, polluting land and clogging up the underground water channel. Natural fibres, on the other hand, are eco-friendly, non-allergic, and more comfortable. Nowadays, natural fibre products have wonderfully replaced most of the plastic-made items, making the world a little greener and a happier place to live in.

During the pre-independence time (1920) the era of Khadi fabric manufacturing began to flourish under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi represented the fabric as a symbol of nationalism, equality, unity, non-violence, and self-reliance. The spinning of Khadi fabric with the Charkha, which means “wheel” is also the heart of the Indian Flag and was weaved by spinners and specialist weavers to project the Khadi Spirit of the Indians.

Papier-Mâché is a French word whose literal meaning is chewed/pulped or mashed paper. It is an art technique that uses pieces of paper or pulp bound with adhesives like glue, starch, or wallpaper paste for making various items, of common use, or for decoration.

Found in the wetlands across the world, water reeds, scientifically known as Phragmites Australis, are broad-leafed grass with a length of about 1.5 to 5 metres. They have smooth stems and clusters of feathery flowers at the top of them. Originally used as thatching materials in the UK, India, and other parts of the world, water reeds are now used to produce several essential items. 

Water reeds are grown along the margins of lakes, streams, and marshy areas from the Arctic to the tropics. In Egypt, these stems are dried to use as fishing poles. Here, fences and cattle pens are also created out from the reeds. In the Philippines, the reeds are used to make household brooms, which they call ‘walis tambo’. In the Netherlands, Ger