DISPLAYS

Cane and Bamboo Section
Gift and Assortment Section
Jewellery Section
Metalware Section
Organic Food Section
Painting Section
Terracotta Section
Textile Section

The Gifts and Assortments section is vast with items from tribes all over India. The walls are adorned with papier-mache masks from the Santhal tribes of West Bengal and Banjaras of Maharashtra, wooden masks embellished with semi-precious stones from the Kinnauri tribe of Himachal Pradesh stand out against the unusual tribal paintings on the walls.

The Kinnauri tribe also make decorative items, animal figures, letter holders, penholders and jewellery boxes with the combination of wood, brass and semi-precious stones. This section has a variety of items including carved stone statues mainly of Ganeshas from the Meena tribe of Rajasthan, jute animal figures made by the Kondh tribe of Orissa, wooden pots,bowls, cutlery, even a cute children's hand bag made by the Raji tribe of Uttaranchal and marble nightlamps made by the Gond tribe from Madhya Pradesh.

Among the many unusual and unique items are the Nav Kakri game innovated by the Rabari tribe of Gujarat which comes beautifully wrapped in a silk cloth with a silken chord and consists of a game board and bead-coins; the board designed by a Rabari woman with embroidery skills is very popular with the foreign nationals visiting the shop. There are stonework products crafted by the Bhotia tribe of Uttaranchal who also make carved wooden temple figures of the Badrinath temple.

Block-printed hand-made wrapping paper from the Adi/ Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, cowrie shell embellished cloth and bamboo baskets from the Bhil tribe of Bastar, colourful cloth animal figures from the Padhar tribe of Gujarat, coconut shell jewellery boxes, cloth puppets, file folders from the Lepcha tribe of Sikkim and decorative wooden axes and bow and arrow sets from the Bhil tribe of Madhya Pradesh are also found in this section. Hair clasps of wood and thread work, palm-leaf painted book marks and small bamboo combs from the Saora tribe of Orissa are here too. There is an item in this section called Chumbal/ Indoniused by the tribal women to carry water-pots on their heads made of cloth, thread and decorative beads, made by the Bhilala tribe of M.P.

A special feature of this section is the products made by the physically and mentally challenged which include diyas sold during Diwali and paper products like diaries, postal stationery and note books. This section also has a specially commissioned video CD called “Primeval Voices –Rathwas and Bhils of Chhota Udaipur - Life and Rituals” by Mallika Sarabhai.

There are many tribal paintings which have been painstakingly collated and are very popular with the visitors from abroad; some of them have been framed and mounted on the walls of the shop. There are brush and pen paintings by members of the Gond tribe of Madhya Pradesh including paintings by the Late Jangar Singh Shyam and other members of his family. These paintings mainly have religious themes with very unique depiction and style of the figures of gods and goddesses. These paintings have been executed on paper.

The Pithora paintings by the Rathwa tribe of Gujarat executed on cloth are displayed along with palm-leaf, canvas-cloth and tassar-silk paintings which have a story-based theme, done by the Saora tribe of Orissa. Warli paintings done by warli tribe using water colours are also found in this section. Another very special art form in this section is the sand paintings from Mizoram done by the Mizo tribals.

Cane and bamboo have a wide representation in the shop with some very unusual items. There are antique carrying baskets from Nagaland made by the Konyak Naga tribe with animal sculptures on them; these are used by the paddy-field workers to carry their lunches and purchases. The other items in this section are racket shaped trays, jewellery boxes, cake boxes, lamp shades, pen stands, glass stands, baskets and brooms made of bamboo by the Bhil tribe from the borders of the states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Some of the items like baskets, trays, boxes and holders are embellished with bead and thread work.

Green bamboo that is found only in Meghalaya is crafted into products by the Khasi tribe of Meghalaya and it is on display here. Decorative items, momentoes, Shangri or baskets, powder case, Shangkiewrit or dryfruit/dry vegetabe/dry meat holder as well as carrying baskets ( vegetable, pan leaf) and tiffin-box holders are displayed in this section. Some cane items made by the Assamese tribes are egg-shaped containers and holders; tribal heads of bamboo root made by the same community are there.

The other items in this section are Kasi grass grain jars by Kondh tribe of Orissa, bamboo trays by Maring tribe of Manipur, woven bamboo basket by Bhotia tribe of Uttaranchal and bamboo Bajai or container made by the Rathwa tribe of Gujarat.

The metalware section is very rich in the variety of metals used and techniques. There is a large range of metal items from Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh; the predominant metal being used is bell-metal fashioned into animal figures, masks, lamp stands, religious figurines, lotas or vessels, decorative items like the figure of Salfee tree and jugs. This is done by the Gadba tribe of Madhya Pradesh. Bell metal has also been used by the Santhal tribe of Bihar and the Kondh tribe from Orissa and found in the form of gods and goddesses, religious figure masks, animal candle stands, fruit bowls, hand bells, Chambulu or vessel, pen stands and solid tribal statues. Iron is another metal widely used by the Gadba tribe of Bastar, Chhatisgarh moulded into lanterns, figures and diyas. Brass box stands made by the Padhar tribe from Gujarat are also found in this section.

The jewellery section has some very extraordinary pieces which are fashioned in unusual shapes; there are a lot of different varieties of necklaces, earrings and bangles. There are traditional necklaces made by the Ghantra / Ghasia tribe from Orissa, original bead necklaces from the Wancho tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, coin necklaces also from Andhra Pradesh made by the Banjara tribes and sea-shell, bead, glass bead and coral necklaces from the Konyak tribe of Nagaland. There are some necklaces with figures of heads strung on them; the legend is that this is worn to indicate the number of heads cut by the Naga warrior. There are also cowrie –shell, glass bead and button necklaces and hair pins made by the Rabaris of Gujarat and lac bangles made by the Munda tribe from Jharkhand. Some pure silver neckwear in traditional designs from Himachal Pradesh are embellished by precious stones and minakari work done on them.

There is a very special section on organic foods in TRIBES which is very popular with people who want to eat food free of chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers. There are many varieties of basmati rice, tea, coffee, spices, honey, jowar and bajra from the hills and forests of Uttaranchal and Nilgiris, pickles from Gujarat, condiments from Kerala and soap nut powder from the tribal regions of Andhra Pradesh.

The textiles section is rich with products mainly from the north-eastern states and the western states of Gujarat and Rajasthan; it is also a very vast section very beautifully divided according to the item and the kind of work that is done on it. The beauty of this section is enhanced by the arrangement of all the products on stone and glass shelves with chiselled work of tribal figures on them.

There are decorative spreads (Chaklas),cushion covers and topis made of pure cotton cloth and embellished with appliqué-work, embroidery and mirror-work by the Rabari tribe of Rajasthan; the other items made by them are bead torans or banners in traditional tribal floral designs and patchwork bedspreads. There is an antique Rabari man’s dress from Rajasthan with intricate embroidered designs that cannot be reproduced and mirror-work ikat material cotton cushion covers of Maharashtra. There are mirror-work and zari or gold thread embroidered shawls, mirror work and embroidered cushion covers, velvet ladies’ pouches with bead work, evening bags of suf embroidery with bead and mirror work, ladies bags of mushru cotton which looks like silk and pure cotton wall panels with traditional embroidery all made by the Rabari tribe of Gujarat.

There are silk and cotton purses, cushion covers, bags, spectacle cases and pouches with embroidery and mirror work made by the Lambanis of Bellary district in Karnataka; a special item is a hanging pouch called ‘Tope’ embellished with embroidery and cowrie shells from which the bride distributes supari, betelnut and betel leaf to visitors at the time of marriage.

The Banjara tribe from Andhra Pradesh have their representation in this section in the form of pure cotton bed covers, divan covers, cushion covers with floral patchwork designs; some of the patchwork is also embellished with mirror work. There are cotton, hand-spun, vegetable-dyed odhnis or cloth draped over the shoulders by women (with motifs of butterfly,axe,pot,etc) made by the Panika tribe, odhnis of tassar silk which is hand spun, hand woven with traditional designs from the Halvar tribe, both of which are from Madhya Pradesh; tassar silk dupattas with Kantha work and floral, animal motifs made by the Gond tribe of Chhatisgarh are also found in this section.

There is a Dongria shawl made by the Dongria Kond tribe from Orissa with traditional tribal hand embroidery on it, which is done by the tribal girls in their dormitories who sing as they work as the tribal boys come to them with marriage proposals; the Saora tribe also from Orissa make T-Shirts with a type of Warli painting done on them. The Birhur tribe from Chhota Nagpur area of Bihar make woven table cloths,

Toda tribe from Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu make stoles, shawls,etc on a natural-colour background using black and red threads which are also found here. The Bhutia tribe in Sikkim make shawls, cases, purses, etc with traditional designs on woven cloth.

There are a whole variety of shawls and stoles from the state of Himachal Pradesh, mainly made by the Bodh tribe from the Lahaul-Spiti area. They make hand woven, traditional border woven Pashmina wool shawls, yak wool shawls, men’s shawls or Loi. The patterns woven on the borders have different names like Chesan or geometrical design, Dharipala or broad border patterns, Kingri or joint pattern, etc. These patterns are also sometimes found mixed on the same shawl. Kinnauri tribe from the same area also make traditional woven woollen shawls and stoles.

Mizo tribe from Mizoram make ladies’stole or Pounpar which is woven on a fly shuttle loom with traditional patterns. Mekhla Chadar or the traditional two-piece tribal ladies dress from Assam is woven by the Mising tribe on a fly shuttle loom and cipon silk or pat silk is used for this; Mekhla is the local word for sarong or cloth draped on the lower half of the body. The Chothe and Kuki tribe from Manipur weave ladies’ shawl, men’s shawl (Saipikhup), children’s shawl on a loin loom and from the designs and motifs used it can be identified who the shawl is for.

There is a special shawl woven by the Naga tribe of Nagaland for the Chief which has the typical designs of human-head, moon, scissors, elephant, fish-eyes, cock, pot-stand,etc This shawl is worn by a member of the tribe after he pulls a rock with 300-400 men for 4-5 days, feeds the village four times and presents himself before the head; nowadays this shawl is draped by the bride when she leaves for the bridegroom’s house. The Ao Naga, Chang Naga and the Naga Lotha tribes weave shawls, wraps, waist coats using fly shuttle looms and loin looms with traditional patterns. The carpets from the Adi / Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh are hand-woven, pure wool and they are strong and unique.

The beauty of the terracotta is enhanced by the lawns on which they are displayed; the lush-green, well-maintained lawns offer a breathtaking contrast to the brown and black coloured terracotta. A lot of the rich-brown coloured terracotta are from Madhya Pradesh made by the Gharwa tribe. There  are  some  unusually  moulded  figures  like   three-faced elephant, tree lamp, tribal house, tiger pot, etc. The figures of gods and goddesses also have some unique tribal representations. There are some earthenware which have unique shapes for items like pen-stands, planters, lamp-shades, bells, letter-holders,etc.

The unique terracotta made by the Rathwa tribe of the Chhota Udaipur area of Gujarat have the normal terracotta colour outside but the inside is black as it is enamled with a layer of lac. This craft is almost dying out and these are probably the last of the pieces being made by the tribe.

A unique kind of stoneware is from Manipur from Nungpi village in Ukhrul district. The Tangkul tribe make these cooking vessels and decorative items; the stone is obtained from a great depth under the ground and broken, crushed before mixing with clay. Then it is moulded into various shapes. The stone is found only in that area of Manipur and is totally pure and free from impurities. The food (vegetable and meat) cook in it has that extra flavour and food cooks in these vessels lasts long after it is taken off the stove. Tap water stored in it is believed to become free of impurities and safe to drink.