The Art of Kanthi Making (Field Study in Lodra,Gujarat) 2017

CRAFT DOCUMENT ON KANTHI MAKING AND A TRIP TO LODRA Compiled by: Dhwani Mistry Divya Nishant Gayathri Babu Ishmeet Kaur Jyoti Gupta

FOUNDATION PROGRAM BATCH-III

PREFACE NIFT, Gandhinagar has given us a great opportunity to explore places like Lodra and Bhasariya to get to know about the culture and lifestyle of the people through Field Studies. We had been asked to explore these places as a group, and prepare a document based on the crafts, and the lifestyle and culture of the people residing there.

Through this documentation of Lodra, we are submitting a report predominantly on the Kanthi making craft. Subject to the limitation of time efforts and resources, every possible attempt has been made to provide the right amount of information regarding the same.

This exploration has really helped us enhance our knowledge regarding the artisans and their crafts. Moreover, as a group we have also learnt a lot about coordination and also time management through this entire process.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, we are extremely thankful towards NIFT, Gandhinagar for giving us this opportunity to explore new places like Lodra and Bhasariya and make us aware of the different customs and the culture of various people.

Secondly, we would like to express our sincere gratitude towards our faculty Proff. Jalpa Vanikar for her guidance and helping us during right time when we required her insights. We also thank her for providing us with her valuable time to help us complete this project successfully.

Thirdly, we are also very much grateful to our mentors Mr. Lokesh Ghai, our course coordinator Mr. Vishal Gupta, Mr. Utpal Pathak and other mentors of Field Study who supported and guided us through this exploration.

We are very much obliged to the people and artisans of Lodra and Bhasariya who took out time from their hectic schedule to interact with us and provide us with the right information that we looked for. We personally thank Payal Ben for sharing her precious time with us. We are also very much grateful to some of them who even offered us water and some food to help us beat the heat.

Altogether, we thank each and every person who helped us in a way or the other to complete this project successfully.

ABSTRACT This documentation that we have done mainly focuses on Lodra, a village in the Mansa Taluka of Gandhinagar district. Here, we have explored almost all of the important places and have come to know about the culture and the lifestyle of the people. We got an opportunity to interact with a lot of people and gained a lot more information that we required.

The craft that we mainly explored was Kanthi making, which is a kind of beadwork craft. We visited the artisan’s place and got to know about the craft and the process involved. We have also explained and documented the entire process and the steps involved. This document will provide you information regarding the main Kanthi making craft, its process and the raw materials used, the cultural beliefs and value system of the people, the social culture of the people, the geographic details of Lodra with a map, and also the events and the festivals that take place here.

CONTENT 1.Introduction 2.About Lodra ? Village Overview ? Cultural Overview ? Lifestyle & People ? Occupational Research

1 2 3 5 7 9

4.Famous Triads ? Khaman ? Khatlo ? Mawa

10 12 14 16

5.Craft Study-Kanthi ? What is Kanthi ? Artisan’s Profile ? Background & Living Conditions ? Raw material & tools ? Process ? Opportunities and Challenges

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INTRODUCTION OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this document is to explore and conduct a field study of Lodra village and to study the craft that is practiced in this village. We were supposed to get to know the people, to learn about their culture, their primary occupation, mainly the crafts that they followed and practiced, their social systems, their cultural belief system, the local panchayat, the education system, the specialties of the places, and other important places that we could possibly explore. We were asked to prepare a documentation for the same.

BRIEF: We were taken on a Field Study trip for about five days and were asked to work according to the teams provided. On the very first two days, we were taken to Lodra, which was a village between the borders of Gandhinagar and Mahesana districts. Lodra is situated in the Mansa Taluka, roughly about 31kms away from Gandhinagar district. Here, we explored the village gathering various information regarding the place. We visited Hasmukh khaman and Bala Hanuman Mandir on the first day. We became aware of the routes and places in the village gradually and also visited Payal Ben’s house to gather information about our main craft that is Kanthi making.

In the following days, we were taken to Bhasariya, a village that is situated 20kms away from Mahesana district. Here too, we had got to visit new places and came across many craft works like pottery, handloom weaving, carpentry works and a lot more. Thus, through this document, we have we have covered the field study of Lodra village and craft documentation of Kanthi making, which is a beadwork craft.

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VILLAGE OVERVIEW

ABOUT LODRA

Village Lodra is situated in Mansa block of Gandhinagar district in Gujarat.Mansa block of Gandhinagar district consists of 48 villages, Lodra is one among them considered as rural areas of Gandhinagar district in Gujarat.

Gujarati and Hindi are the main languages spoken. The village has its own post office and the pin code of Lodra village is 382835 and the village code of Lodra is 511210. The total number of homes in Lodra is 1711 approximately.

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According to the compilation of our research work and census 2011, population of Lodra is about 7723 to 7726 person. Out of whichh4031 are males and 3692 is the female number of population. There are 715 kids of age group 0 to 6 from which 385 is the boys count and 330 is the girls count.

Talking about the literacy rate, 78% of the total population in Lodra village is literate. From which 84% males and 73% females are educated.

47% population of Lodra is unemployed while rest of the 53% population is engaged in either main (full time) or marginal (part time) works. More precisely, 60% of male population and 45% of female population come under the employed population of village. Agriculture plays an important role in Lodra. About 825 people out of 4015 working population are entirely dependent on agriculture.

Administration of Lodra is taken care by Sarpanch (Head of village) as per the constitution of India and Panchayat Raaj Act. Sarpanch is the elective representative who works for all-over development of village. Current Sarpanch is Kapabhai Patel. Lok sabha constituency of the village is Mehsana parliamentary constituency.

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CULTURAL OVERVIEW

Lodra being a small village located in the Mehsana district of Gandhinagar consists of Gujarati speaking people, following their unique Gujarati lifestyle and culture. As the people of Lodra follow Gujarati culture, they are mostly vegetarians in nature and hence vegan food is mostly available in the market.

Milk and milk products are quite famous. While talking about the dressing sense of the people here, Charno and Kediyu are the traditional wear for gents while Chaniya Choli is for women. As Gujarat is mainly a Hindu dominated state, these villagers celebrate almost all the Hindu festivals but predominamtly Diwali and Navratri.

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LIFESTYLE & PEOPLE

The people of Lodra are all Gujaratis and mainly speak only Gujarati while only quite a few know English and Hindi. They follow a very much simple lifestyle and are very much strict above their traditions and cultures. Although they pefer colourful dresses during cultural events, in today’s time, they too have switched to comfortable clothes like normal shirts and pants. But, during festivals and cultural programs, people continue to follow their traditions by strictly wearing only authentic clothes for celebrations.

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CARPENTRY: Carpentry, is the art and trade of cutting, working and joining timber.

The term includes both structural timberwork in framing and items such as doors, windows, and staircase. Carpenters traditionally worked with natural wood and did the rougher work such as framing, but today many other materials are also used and sometimes the finer trades of cabinet making and furniture building are also considered carpentry.

POTTERY: Pottery is basically an activity or a skill of making objects out of clay usually by hand and then baking them at high tempretures so as to make them hard and usable. A potter’s clay is a clay that usually does not contain iron and is used for pottery or for modelling.

It is a very fine grained soil that is plastic when moist but becomes hard when fired.

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FAMOUS TRIADS ? KHAMAN ? KHATLO ? MAWA

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HASMUKH KHAMAN

Our team enjoying khaman & jalebi at Hasmukh khaman

The most well known landmark of Lodra village viz. Hasmukh Khaman. A shop serving scrumptious khaman alongside different farsans (bites) and desserts like Jalebi and ladoos since 1970s.It is currently owned by Mr. Tarun Sukhadiya. Individuals of the entire Gandhinagar district cherish these khaman and never miss out to appreciate them whenever they are inquired about lodra .

These khaman have marked their space in lodra's history due to its soft texture, juicy form and the freshness. It is served with the yellow sev that adds up to the delicious taste. They are so adored by everybody as a result of their sharp eye on quality control. Our team also visited there and surely had a wonderful experience and a unforgettable taste on the tongue.

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Hasmukh khaman

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KHATLO Shri Balahanuman Ashram & Ayurved Vikas Mandal This Hospital is one of the renowned Ayurved Hospital of the state which renders its continuous service for 37 Years i.e. since its inception the patients suffering from different incurable diseases come this hospital from every corner of the different states of the country. It is a matter pleasure that the patients are completely cured by the grace of Lord Shri Balahanumanji and return to their home with smile. In this way here is the confluence of blessing and medicines. It runs Shri Bala Hanuman Ayurved Mahavidyalaya (College) Degree Course, Ayurved Hospital of cost-free 100 Beds with all the facilities, Ayurved Maternity Home, Ayurved Panchakarma Ward, and Sanskrit College.

The treatments offered by this centre for the disease like Hemiplegia, Sciatica, Arthritis, Gout Spondylitis, Paralysis, Obesity, Migraine, Insomnia, Bronchitis, allergic condition and many other degenerative diseases. Some of the Panchakarma methods will provide adequate prevention to the disease by way of removing the accumulated toxins from the body providing regeneration of tissue, improving vitality and immune resistance capacity.

And also offers Panchakarma therapies - Vaman, Virechan, Basti, Nasya & Raktamokshan, Abhyanga, Udvartan, Baspa Sweda, Potalisweda, Shnehan, Swedan & Virechan, Basti Karam, Rakta Basti, Kshar Sutrakarma, Pusvan karam & Uttar Basti.

It is a great credit to the institution has been able to avail the knowledge of Ayurved from honorable Saint and idol of mercy Pujya Balaramdasji Maharaj.

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Ayurved hospital Lodra

FOUNDER Shri Balahanuman Ashram & Ayurved Vikas Mandal is two distinct but complementary organizations under on roof. In the year 1942, His Holy and Reverend (Saint) Shri Balramdasji Maharaj, established a Temple and an Aushadhalaya in the name Shri Balahanuman Ashram, with the object of providing social services to the society in general and to the poor and needy persons in particular. The activities of the Ashram, under his auspices, include running Ayurvedic Dispensary, maintaining Gaushala , and Sanskrit Pathshala (school).

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Mawa is a dairy product widely used in the cuisine of the Indian Subcontinent, encompassing India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is made of either dried whole milk or milk thickened by heating in an open iron pan. It is lower in moisture than typical fresh cheeses such as ricotta.

PREPARATION Mawa is made by simmering full-fat milk in a large, shallow iron pan for several hours over a medium fire. The gradual evaporation of its water content leaves only the milk solids. The ideal temperature to avoid scorching is about 80 °C (180 °F).

PROCESS 1. The milk comes from the families having cattle in and around lodra village every morning.

2.Mawa is prepared on steam boilers that worked on wood here.The steam boiler has to be turned on by firing wood and waiting for the water to be heated and hence steam produced.

3.The Iron pan is heated over this steam and milk is poured in.

4.The milk is then boiled until it is thickened mostly about one fifth the time of milk.

5.The mawa is then ready and is poured in flat trays for cooling.

6.Their major customer base are the sweet shops who require mawa for preparing majority of the sweets

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WELCOME TO ARTISAN’S BLOCK...

MAWA

KANTHI MAKING

LODRA

KANTHI A Kanthi is an article of jewellery that is worn around the neck. It may have been one of the earliest types of adornment worn by humans. Kanthi often serve ceremonial, religious, magical, or funerary purposes. They are also often used as symbols of wealth and status, given that they are commonly made of precious metals and stones.

The main component of a kanthi is the band, chain, or cord that wraps around the neck. These are most often rendered in precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum. It often have additional attachments suspended or inset into the Kanthi itself. These attachments typically include pendants, lockets, amulets, crosses, and precious and semi-precious materials such as diamond, pearls, rubies, emeralds, garnets, and sapphires.

Some examples of Kanthi 20

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ARTISAN’S PROFILE

NAME: Payalben Baldevbhai Thakore YEAR OF BIRTH: 1996 AGE: 21 years FATHER’S NAME: Baldevbhai SIBLINGS (IF ANY): Brother MARITAL STATUS: Single QUALIFICATION: SSLC Fail CRAFT PRACTISED: Kanthi (Beadwork) YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: Two years AVERAGE INCOME: 80,000 per annum (approx.)

MOTHER TONGUE: Gujarati LANGUAGES KNOWN: Gujarati, Hindi CONTACT NO: +91 8347986085 ADDRESS: Duniyapura Lodra, Gandhinagar Mansa, Gujarat -382835

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BACKGROUND The artisan Payal Ben lives with her mother, father and a younger brother in Dhuniyapura area in Lodara village. She is of 21 years old and has been practicing this craft for about 2 years now, and is very much experienced in this craft. She gets paid 14 rupees per set for which she spends at least 2 hours per day. Payal Ben also shared with us some of her difficulties too.

She also specified the eye problems and the headache that they had to face on a regular basis due to the consistent straining of the eye as beadwork is a minute hand crafted work that involves a lot of patience and concentration.

She also expressed their need for proper health facilities and a little bit hike in their wages. However, despite all these petty issues, Payal Ben feels happy to contribute financially and support her family.

LIVING CONDITIONS The artisan Payal Ben has been financially supporting her family by involving in this craftwork for about 2 years and gets paid 14 rupees per set for which she spends at least 3-4 hours per day. However, they do find it difficult to sit on the floor without any backrest most of the time, and spend hours enough to produce a perfect bead set with no faults for which they comparatively get paid a little less than what they expect. She also specified the eye problems and the headache that they had to face on a regular basis due to the consistent straining of the eye as bead work is a minute hand crafted work that involves a lot of patience and concentration. They also expressed their need for proper health facilities and hike in their wages. However, despite these small issues, they feel happy being an artisan, and especially the young ladies felt happy to contribute to their family’s financial needs.

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Raw Materials & Tools WORKSPACE AND TOOLS: Kanthi is basically a beadwork which does not require much skills and can easily be learnt by anyone. The following are the tools related to the craft making.

RAW MATERIALS:

Plastic Beads(few white and few colored). These can be of varying sizes and colour as per design.

Extremely thin wires with high ductility(generally golden) which are interlocked skillfully with plastic beads to make up a chain in Kanthi.

Plier Bunch of beaded locks

Thin wire

Wire cutter

Beads organizer containing beads

There is a vast range of variety in designs of such Kanthi. On the basis of design selected, raw materials are provided to the artisans in order to fulfil the demand of that selected kanthi. The raw materials are brought from Krushnanagar, Ahmedabad every month based on weight as per the artisan’s demand. Artisans have to travel to Ahmedabad by themselves to collect the raw materials as well as to return the completed jewllery pieces (acc. to o. of jewellery set) and leftover raw materials (acc. to the weight). The material is given with a commitment of time-bound with respect to number of pieces to be submitted by the artisans.

Wholesale price of each jewellery piece goes up to 300 rupees per set.

A cutter to cut the wire after every loop.

A small kanthi machine with the help of with Kanthi is made.

Bench used to attach machine

Kanthi machine

A small table with an edge to attach the small machine mentioned above.

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Process

Step wise representation of production of kanthi

Kanthi making is not a complicated process though it requires appropriate amount of time and patience to understand the procedure.

Each and every design is followed by some changes in the process of making to complete a Kanthi mala. But some of the steps remain common in every type of mala. For a particular design of Kanthi, this process can be considered so as to obtain a finished product. step-1

step-2

FOR CHAIN: Copper wire is used for making chain. Firstly Copper wire is passed through a white coloured bead and then a hook is made to lock the chain into the bead and a loop is made on the other side of the bead.

Similarly, a red coloured bead is taken to pass a Copper wire through and a loop is made. Now the white bead loop is joined through red bead loop.

On repeating the same process with one white bead and one green bead, a beaded section is obtained which is further taken and hooked with a small chain through the loop.

This whole procedure is followed unless a complete chain is not obtained and 5 more such chains are prepared to achieve the above said Kanthi mala. The process takes a whole lot of hard-work and patience with maximum amount of concentration because there are chances of defect while doing this work.

step-3

step-4

step-5

step-6

So to complete one such kanthi, the artisan must work for continuous 4 to 5 hours without breaking concentration. The time-period may vary with differ types of designs of Kanthi.

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OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES OPPORTUNITIES Their is definitely a scope for better wages and working conditions given that the laobours are aware about their importance and worth.they could raise their voice for this concern. This sector can be digitally advanced so that the labours can select the design in advance and pre plan the working hours accordinly.

CHALLENGES The challenges that this craft faces are numerous due to competition, labour cost per kanthi is very low and hence they cannot afford proper or even comfortable workspace.as they are not comfortable they cannot work efficiently or for long hours back aches and stiffness was one of the common problems faced by most of labourors as the work is intricate and precision seeking weak eyesight is also observed as long term effects due to their financial condition and low wages they could not afford a balanced diet or lead a healthy lifestyle that resulted in frequent illnesses and hence visit to doctors even in illness they were not given any concession and it was sheer loss of the labours. In case of Payal due to her low immunity she could hardly work 18-20 days in a month also as said earlier due to uncomfortable workspace she feared of permanent back and shoulder aches and also far-sightedness. Therefore she avoide working more than 4-5 hours a day and in nights she even expressed how better conditions would have helped her work more efficiently and for longer hours.

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29 One of our team member trying kanthi out of curiosity

TEAM MEMBERS We personally thank each and every member of our group individually for their support and timely cooperation. This documentation would not have been possible without the proper coordination of all the members. We also thank every member for collecting the right amount of information and also for the quality research that had to be done to make this documentation a successful one.

Tanvi Bhakhar

Divya Nishant

Dhwani Mistry

Gayathri Babu

Ismeet Kaur

Our team with Payal Ben & her mother

Jyoti Gupta