Bhubaneswar, July 18: The state government today opened an exclusive counter to showcase handicraft and handloom products made by various tribal communities at the new domestic terminal (T1) of Biju Patnaik Airport, coinciding the launch with bahuda yatra.

“Legend has it that Lord Jagannath was originally worshipped as Neela Madhaba by a Sabar king (tribal chief) named Viswabasu. So, we thought this auspicious occasion, when the Trinity are returning to their abode, would be befitting to open the outlet selling tribal art objects,” said secretary of the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes welfare department Santosh Kumar Sarangi.

Today, there were four items — dhokra art items, saora art pieces, wooden carvings and horn craft — on display at the outlet. There were also selected handloom products made by tribal people. The store will showcase 110 items within a week.

Minister of the department Lal Bihari Himirika, who inaugurated the showroom, said: “This is the first attempt by our government to showcase the tribal art and craft products in an up-market environment. We may upgrade the stall to a better location and bigger floor area once we get enough response from the visitors.”

“We have four outlets, including the one at the airport in the city and another one in Rourkela. We will plan to have similar outlets at Delhi Haat in New Delhi, Calcutta airport, Puri and the SC/ST Museum in Bhubaneswar. The Calcutta and Puri outlets will be in collaboration with private operators,” Sarangi said.

The exposure of the tribal products through outlets like `Tribal World’ on the other hand, has helped Saora artists in remote Rayagada district immensely as they are now producing more and more items to cater to the public demands. Saora motifs in glass, ceramics and even fabrics are in great demand even in the metros.

Saora artist Rabindra Sabar, who heads a group of 35 artists in Rayagada, is the pioneer of the art form known as Editaal by the ethnic group. “We are giving Rs 3 per piece as royalty to Sabar for his exclusively designed greetings card, he painted for us. Last year we sold more than 3,000 cards. This year, from Saora art alone, we have targeted to gain a business of Rs 50 lakh or even more. Last year, the volume was only Rs 5 lakh,” said Susanta Nanda, managing director of the Tribal Development Co-operative Corporation of Odisha Limited.

“The demand of saora art products have inspired us to open outlets in places such as New Delhi and Calcutta. We are also exploring possibilities to create innovative art products with Saora motifs on them. Through their exclusive motifs, Saoras feel that they can connect to spirits,” Nanda said.

The state government has started a project to promote Saora art by developing a cluster at Puttarsingh in Rayagada district where the artist group will be provided raw materials and running capital to produce more products, so that the products will be properly marketed.

Similarly, plans are on to start a cluster in Keonjhar on producing papier mache and a bamboo product cluster in Sundergarh district, so that the grassroots-level artists will benefit as their products can be properly marketed through the co-operative outlets.

“The counter at Biju Patnaik Airport will also create more interest in the tourists to know more about the tribal communities and visit them wherever possibilities are there to explore,” said tour operator Debasish Mohapatra.

Airport director Sharad Kumar is happy that the new terminal is getting all types of craft and art forms from various corners of the state. “When the terminal was inaugurated on March 5, we installed various art forms such as masks, patta chitra and stone carvings. This new addition will add more glitter as the region is rich with various tribal art forms,” he said.

Among the tribal textile items, exquisite organic dyed fabric woven by Mirgan community of Kotpad in Koraput district, ethnic embroidered shawls made by Dongria Kondhs of the Niyamgiri hills are there to woo visitors at the outlet.