India is a land of arts and crafts, which thrive in every corner. These crafts have origin in past and characterize Indian cultural legacy. The plethora of crafts range from metalwork, pottery, jewelry making, glassware, shell craft, stone work to woodcraft etc. Cane and bamboo crafts of India are popular across the globe for their functional and aesthetic appeal. Especially in the northeastern states this is an important source of livelihood for the people.

Craftsmen produce a variety of utilitarian items using natural material like cane and bamboo. Not only these materials, readily available, they are also easy to work with and hardly require the use of specialized tools or equipment.

In India crafts associated with cane and bamboo, have generally been carried out by different tribal societies within the country. The tribals, since ancient times, have been using cane and bamboo to give expression to their art and to earn a living.

Cane and bamboo is generally used in the production of items pertaining to furniture and making of baskets and mats.

Crafts of Northeast

Cane and bamboo crafts from Tripura are amongst the best in India, because of their beauty and exquisite designs. A variety of products and items such as furniture, panels and partitions, table  mats and floorings, lampshades etc are made here.

Tripura is also famous for thin bamboo pot containers and  mattresses. The household items created by the craftsmen here,  are a good blend of utility and artistic beauty. Panels, screens and partitions made out of splitted bamboo, pasted on plywood is another utilitarian item created here. Split bamboo is so thin  and shiny that it looks like ivory.

Tripura also makes cane and bamboo ornaments, which are not found in any other part of the country.

The best-known basket and weaving traditions can be found in Assam and West Bengal. Baskets and mats from Bengal and Tripura look similar.

Assam is known for baskets, beer mugs, floor and tablemats, musical instruments and fishing devices. Mizoram is known for production of Mizo baskets, made from woven bamboo and used for storing rice. Cane hats from Mizoram are quite popular. Arunachal Pradesh excels in cane and bamboo work with bamboo bridges and cane belts.

Manipur has unusual shaped baskets, with dome shaped lid made out of bamboo. Kerala is known for small square boxes made with bamboo.

In northeast the headgear worn by the people working in tea gardens is made of bamboo, so is the handle of umbrella, which has delicate floral carvings on it.

Madhya Pradesh also has a rich tradition of bamboo and cane crafts. Items like, mats, baskets, hunting and fishing tools, agricultural implements etc are made from bamboo. The tribal belt of Chhattisgarh and Bastar are main centers for production of items made from bamboo.

Cane and bamboo products, not only adorn tribal houses, but they decorate the modern household as well. Cane furniture, bamboo mats, screens, tablemats etc are extremely popular. A number of cane and bamboo products are exported from India.                                                                                                                                                              April 2008

Courtesy: www.india-crafts.com