Evolution of Indian Handicraft in India
Posted by Nitin Garg on September 29th, 2015
Indian native has an extremely rich culture, art, recognized by great appearance and mixed art history. Difficult designs, beautifully handcrafted, all are spectacular works of artisans.
What is Handicraft or handmade items?
The custom, tradition and culture of a particular place is shown by its handicraft products. It tells stories of the past of the rulers and leaders, and tells stories of its culture. Indian hand made item such as teracotta pots, painted animals, Meenakari items, tapestries, wooden items, God Statues are designed successfully by the skilled artisans. If you take a closer look at these handicraft items, they reperesent the true spirit of the Indian craftmanship in true spirits along with beauty and style. They are widely used as gift items due to their attractive looks.
Indian handicrafts are being used for more than thousand years from now. In our museums we have a number of handicrafts from Indus valley civilization period. Since, then the traditions of using these products have grown to look to the needs of common people. Foreign and Domestic trade have an important role in the evolution of Indian handicrafts. From time immemorial, Indian handicraftsmen and their new ideas have supplied amazing products to people.
India is one of the significant providers of handicraft to the international industry. The industry provides a livelihood for more than 6 milions artisans including a big share of women artisans, and people from the weaker sections of the country. Indian craftmanship and styles of each age indicate the way of life, customs and activities of that particular era.
Mauryan age was the time for the development in the field of sculpture. During this period a number of stupas with beautiful stone carvings are built and the work is well preserved till now. Making of contemporary jewellery was also one of the works that flourished well during this period. That time there were no machines available so all artisans work with hands. It reflected the skills and arts of the people. Previously these items were made to fulfill the needs and they were mostly utility products, but later on they were used as decorative products too.
When people started selling these products in different-different cities, then people came to know about Indian handicrafts. To impress the queen and king, the craftmen tried their best to create something new which can show their skills and could differentiate from others in the group. To keep the Indian art alive, Govt. Started putting their efforts to preserve the talent and tradition of te country. Indian crafts mela are also organised in different cities to promote the art and craft of other places. Besides this there are so many online platforms too, that help people in buying these products in few clicks.
Today Indian handicrafts has an unsurpassable standing in the global market and the manufacturers are in great demand. Some surveys reveal amazing figures of increase in the export since the last few years.
There is huge demand for Indian hand made products in both International and domestic market. Major parts of crafts industry are dominated by small and medium scale enterprises. To deliver high quality products & match the demand & supply, there is need of greater technological support & innovationess in industry. Crafts are the main part of Indian culture and will continue to play a major role in the cultural and economic well-being of India.
