Time to hoard the quaint offering from the ongoing craft exhibition, Dastkar- Festival of lights, which presents the vibrant collection of handicrafts from different states. By Arjita Mishra
As we enter through the gate of Dastkar mela, we found cups and plates of bone china arranged beautifully on the left side of the ground. The whole ground was decorated with orange and yellow-coloured fabrics.
A wide range of hand woven textile, handmade terracotta jewellery, home accessories are the eye –catching items at Dastkar. Craftspeople from various part of the country came together to exhibit there talent at Dastkar — Festival of lights.
A craftsman from Bagru, Rajasthan exhibited his handmade candle stands, lanterns and lamps made up of moje glass which were beautifully painted with floral patterns. Its starting price was Rs200 and goes till Rs1,500.
A bell horse whose head was made of wrought iron sheets and the rest of the body was made using wood had a few iron bells hanging from its belly. This is one of the pieces among home accessories which has been exhibited by Indian Handicraft Company. They had a wide range of beautiful candle stands of tribal women, elephants, rabbits, owls and horses.
Not only this, we also found home accessories made by recycling products such as gourd. A lamp set exhibited by the workers of Chhattisgarh was made after recycling the veggie. Deepak, who was the owner of the stall said, “There is a very long process involved in the making. First, we keep a gourd to dry and then very carefully scoop out whatever is inside. The designs are then made with the help of machines.” Apart from lamps, he had wind chimes and lord Ganesha made using gourd.
Sheela Chowdhary, a Delhi-based artist presented putul craft made from the waste materials in her stall. These were made up of plastic bottles, tubes, thread reels and many more. According to her, “I’ve tried to give a glimpse of different states of India through my craft.” In her collection, she had a popcorn and a vegetable seller, women carrying her baby and much more. She had showcased her collections of putul craft in different cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, lucknow and Goa.
At Dastkar, there were approx 102 stalls from different regions of the country. The aim is to promote the culture of handicrafts in India from different states so that they may grow. “We have taken the crafts which belong to the small villages to help the craftsmen,” said Trina, a member from the organising team.
As we passed the Galli-e-Khass, we found stalls of handlooms, pickles and home accessories. These stalls are the permanent stalls of Dastkar. At the food stall, you can find delicacies from the states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.