It's the third time that the ‘Orissa Crafts Utsav,' organised by Art and Crafts Exposition (ACE), an NGO working for the craft heritage of Orissa, is coming to town. And this time too it's the place to go for interesting handlooms and handicrafts from the villages of the State.
However, among the 25 or so stalls at the fete, only a handful sells Oriya goods. The handloom stall, selling cotton saris (from Rs. 560 to 6,000) and dress material (Rs. 1,200 to 4,000), is especially noteworthy. The prices are based on the complexity of designs. All of these items are in Orissa's signature Ikkat weave (an intricate process, in which wrap and weft threads are first tied and then dyed, to produce the designed pattern on the loom while weaving), and Bomkai weave. Typical motifs for these items include flora and fauna, seashells, rudraksh beads, temple spires, and of course, designs based on the Sun temple at Konark and the Jagannath temple at Puri. Many of the items also have interesting colour combos. For instance, a sari with a yellow body dotted with black chessboard ikkat weave, with a pallu in black, and its huge border, in a rich maroon and black imprinted with tiny Konark chariot wheels. Ikkat blouse pieces, ranging from Rs.100 to 200) and dupattas (Rs. 560 to 2,000) can be found in a range of earthy colours.
Intricate designs
Those interested in home décor will love the stall selling Pattachitras. They are available in two kinds: as cloth paintings and as palm leaf paintings, and almost always have mythological motifs from the epics, apart from depictions of the Jagannath temple legend. The Pattachitras range from Rs. 2,000 to 15, 000. depending on the antiquity of the designs. Here we came across an intricately painted, huge palm-leaf pattachitra, painted by the stall owner's grandfather 25 years ago! Framed canvas paintings and brass sculptures (Rs. 500 to 2,500) and paintings on dry coconut shells are other interesting items.
Then there is the brass artefacts stall, a homage to tribal artefacts of Orissa, and packed with beautiful necklaces, earrings, tiny figurines, and so on (priced from Rs. 100 to 1,000). For fans of accessories this is a must stop.
The highlight of the fete is undoubtedly the stall selling Kotpad saris and weaves, a stall tucked amidst tie-and-dye weaves. Sourced from Kotpad tribal village in the Bastar region, these hand-woven, super-soft yet thick cotton saris come in dull shades of red, white, and brown (all natural dyes), embellished with delicate tribal motifs. They are a bit on the costlier side (Rs. 5,500 onwards for saris) but you can also get two-and-a-half metre dupattas and also untreated cotton yarn of the same.
The fair also has a fair number of handicrafts and handlooms from other States such as Kantha work saris and dress materials from Bengal (Kantha worked harem pants are particularly noteworthy), cotton bed sheets and duries and lac bangles from Rajasthan, and so on.
The ‘Orissa Crafts Utsav' is on at V.J.T Hall till October 18.
