Adivasis of Orissa

Tribal Handicraft & Handloom of Orissa Tribes

Tribal Handicraft of Orissa Tribes

Orissa's Adivasis are born artisans and craftsmen and produce exquisitely beautiful handicrafts with the most rudimentary of raw materials.

POTTERY:

Though there are very few potters among the tribes, the tribal people extend their patronage to the other potters. The elemental quality of earth as a substance has long been used by them in the execution of both ritual and utilitarian objects. A variety of roof tiles, utensils such as pots, bowls, plates and jars, and cooking stoves meet specific requirements of daily life. Simultaneously the potter creates votive offerings in strong forms of bulls, elephants and horses as well as terracotta temples and toys.

CANE, BAMBOO, REEDS, GRASSES AND WOOD: 

Bamboo and cane have all the fertile, lively and tactile qualities of nature's raw materials which crafts persons have successfully harnessed. The structural qualities of bamboo, its high-tensile strength and pliability have led to its widespread use for architectural purposes. Besides which, bamboo splits are woven together to make baskets of diverse shapes and sizes depending on the nature of goods they are required to carry or store. Similarly the elasticity and sturdiness of cane has been utilized in the manufacture of a variety of domestic goods, while countless local fibers and reeds are used by people with household skills to make ropes, strings, brooms and the like. These products are largely geared for local consumption. However, the potential of these materials is so great that new applications can be explored for the new customers.

PLASTER AND PAPER MACHE:

This skill has been creatively practiced by crafts persons from all over Orissa. Paper, waste cloth and different kinds of natural fibers are soaked and beaten into a pulp, then mixed with a variety of seeds and gums for strength and as protection from termites. Special clays and bio-wastes are added for body and reinforcement. The entire process results in a malleable that it requires little skill to be molded into countless forms. However, despite its versatility this craft has remained neglected.

The application of plasters to her dwellings is often the rural woman's medium of creative expression reflecting both in terms of colors and symbols, the close identification of man with nature. From clay come the colors ochre, geru, charcoal grey and white which are either used naturally or mixed with pigments purchased from the markets. The images created by her are timeless yet ephemeral, with the sun and the rain taking their toll. The predominantly geometric forms - a straight line, a square covered in dots, waves, triangles pointing to the sky and downwards - can have the most disparate of meanings but the symbolism of fertility is implicit in all of them. The tools used for applying the plasters whether on hut walls or floors are basic. They use twigs, fingers, whole hands and rags.

STONE AND THEATRE CRAFTS: 

Artisans practicing the craft of stone carving in Orissa have remained largely tradition-bound while producing objects of ritualistic, decorative and practical use. Turned utensils for both cooking and serving and artifacts of tourist interest are made in Khiching located on the borders of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts, from a semi hard, grey stone which takes on a deep, dark polish, while beads and figurines are carved out of soft stones available in many shades of orange in Phulbani district.

The Desiya Nata of tribal Orissa derives its distinctive style in some part from Prahlada Natakams and Jatras of the Hindus. Its colorful costumes - embroidered head-dresses and painted masks which adorn the key actors and the use of imaginative props are a craft in themselves. Masks carved out of paper Mache and sholapith, the weightless bark of a water plant, represent various gods, goddesses, demons and animals.