Traditions of a fascinating country

Rich past

This year, the annual gala affair has gone up a notch in terms of exclusivity with the unique concept of Cottage Pavilion, which provides a platform for a cultural and artistic interchange between artisans and visitors and an ideal method for the exchange of knowledge with each other. Around 50 artists, who are national and state awardees from various parts of India, are participating in the event showcasing an array of unique crafts from their respective regions.

Actress Meghana Gaonkar inaugurated the Cottage Mela and took a look at the different art and craft traditions of India’s culturally enriched regions. “This kind of events are a big boost for handicrafts artists and artisans across the country. We all should come forward to conserve our great Indian culture through our traditional arts,” she said, appreciating the exquisite craftmanship of the artisans.

This year, on display are the tribal handicrafts from Bastar which includes exotic handicrafts like wood-carvings, bell-metal items, terracotta items, bamboo items as well as national award-winning brass art from Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh.

Also present are the lacquerware craft from Maharashtra, Madhubani paintings from Bihar, lamps, lampshades, hand-crafted wooden furniture, bronze and brass idols from Bengal, hand-knit silk carpets from Kashmir.

In textiles, the rich weaving tradition of India is represented in the wide range of handloom and cotton saris and dress materials. Along with these, silk kurtas, jackets, silk scarves and silk ties from Karnataka are for sale.

An artist from Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh, who has come with his national award winning brass art, said, “This event has given us a platform to have an exchange of ideas with artists from other states and add on to our knowledge of other crafts. This cultural expo of crafts is a testimony of India’s glorious past and present.” The event will be on till January 2.