Handicrafts on display at Jain Bhavan in Sakchi. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Oct. 2: The rich wood carvings of the Tripura artisans made its way to the steel city through Craftsworld.

The voluntary body today organised the Tripura Green Gold exhibition at Jain Bhavan in Sakchi. The 10-day exhibition will showcase wide range of wood art by artisans from the neighbouring state.

D.K. Singh, the chairman of Craftsworld, said: “We are implementing an artisans development cluster under Ambedkar Hastashilpa Vikas Yojna and under this scheme the artisans will have some practical exposure on marketing of their handicrafts as well as to know the demands of their products directly from the customers. The organisation has so far sponsored 210 artisans and are promoting their craft work through exhibition like these.”

Rhinoceros, tribal figures apart from wooden plaques of Hindu deities were being sold. The visitors lavishly emptied their pockets and purchased the handicrafts items to decorate their interiors.

“There were some rare handicraft items which attracted the visitors. I did not mind loosing my purse string to buy those intricately designed items,” said a resident of Sakchi Kavita Sinha, who visited the fair.

Bamboo mats, cane and jute jewellery, home decoration item and lasingphee were the special attractions of the exhibition.

“Lasingphee is a cotton quilt that is woven on a fly shuttle loom in Tripura,” said an artisan Rajesh Tamang.

Apart from these items, other materials that people were seen buying were bedspreads, hunting coats, door and window covers.

The wood crafts included drift wood carving which is done on the wood of Mova tree.

“Wood craft requires patience, skill and concentration. It involves intricate work. I have been doing it for the past twenty years now and it is always popular with people,” said another artisan. He said teak, rose or white cedar wood, which are soft woods, can also be used to make these carvings.

Singh said in Tripura a number of handicraft items are made from bamboo, as the raw material is found in abundance there.

Artisans from Naichar village in Tripura make the finer handicraft items. Craftsmen of this place are very skilled. They carve bold and floral motifs on table mats and wall hangings.