In a bid to spread awareness about tribal culture, tradition and fashion, the museum Dr. Ram Dayal Munda Tribal Welfare Research Institute (TRI) will soon be seen housing a variety of tribal jewellery.
The institute has recently floated tender inviting agencies for making of these jewellerywhich can be displayed at the museum.
Director of the institute, Ranendra Kumar said, “We visited Bhubneshawar a while ago and saw the traditional clothes of jewelries displayed there in a museum, spreading awareness about the local culture. That is where we came up with the idea of doing the same in Jharkhand.”
A total of 26 types of jewellery pieces specific to the tribal population of Jharkhand have been identified by the institute including Mandali, Khasiya, Bangri, Khonso, Chand Chhuji, payjani, those, teen taadi and many others.
“The jewellery from each of the tribes of Jharkhand has been identified and they would be displayed accordingly at the museum. It will not just help the visitors but also the research students to understand the culture better,” Kumar said.
The tender floated clearly specifies that the company applying should have a work experience of two years along with the artisans working under them having the same amount of experience. Also, the artisans should have experience of making jewellery from various metals including copper, brass, silver and aluminum.
“This will not just help the help the traditional artisans making jewellery increase their income but at the same time give their art an acknowledgement and fame,” Kumar said.
However, getting agencies to apply for the tender seems to have become a problem for the institute as this is not the first time that the tender has been floated in this regard. “We have floated the tender at least five times but not many applications are coming in,” the director informed.
A major reason behind the tender not getting applicants is that not many agencies are working in this field and those who are working are not being able to meet all the requirements of the tender.
“The tender has been prepared very technically and scientifically but not many companies are able to fulfill its criteria. Last time only one agency applied so we had to cancel the tender and float it again,” Kumar said. He informed that a tender cannot be finalized until there are at least three bids for it.
Talking about the crisis of experts in the field of making tribal jewellery, tribal expert and former head of Tribal and Regional Languages department of Ranchi University, Girdhari Ram Gaunjhu said, “The art is dying as the youngsters nowadays do not want to adorn these jewellery. As there is a lack of demand, not many artisans are making these jewelries now.”
However, he said that this initiative of the institute will definitely help spread awareness about the tribal fashion.