Three dimensional (3D) figures such as animals, birds and humans on plywood at the stall of a Chhattisgarh’s craftsperson from Surguja is receiving good response at the on-going Surajkund International Crafts Mela in Haryana.
“I loved the flower vase and pen stand at this stall; they are different from the one we get in market. Plus, these are very pocket friendly and a great gifting option,” said Reetika, who bought eight pieces of pen stand and three flower vase. Pavitra who hails from Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh has been practicing this 3-D art known as “Bhitti Chitra Kala’, a form of mural painting, from the past seven years.
“This art is used mainly for decorating houses, doors and windows. Earlier, clay and natural dyes were used for making toys, showpieces and sceneries. But now, we use fabric colours and paper pulp for better finishing,” she said.
Explaining the intricacies of preparing the paper pulp, Pavitra said, “It is a time consuming process. Rotting of paper itself takes five to six days. The rotten paper is then beaten into pulp and mixed with ‘Multani mitti’ and Babool ka gond’. The mixture gets ready for use after it is dried for 3-4 days.”
On being asked that why this art is less popular, she said, “Our Government is taking many initiatives to promote this art. They organise training camps by renowned artists at various cities provide training to people who are interested in taking up this art.”
Toys such as parrot, tiger, dolls, pen stands and small wall pieces, ranging from Rs200 to Rs700, were on display at the stall. “We also prepare traditional ‘Jali’ made up of paper pulp and large murals on plywood, which costs up to 40,000. But I was unable to bring those as they were too heavy,” she added. Chhattisgarh is the theme State of the mela this time round. lebanon is the co-partner nation in organising the mela.