Handicrafts from across West Bengal are on sale at Hastashilpa Mela on the grounds opposite Eco Park Gate No. 1.The fair is open till December 17, 1pm to 8.30pm
All photographs by Sannidh RaychaudhuriHandcrafted items made of bamboo, cane, flax rope, terracotta and other material on display. Bamboo vases are priced at Rs 70 onwards and terracotta crockery at Rs 50 and upwards. Small dolls made of flax rope are priced at Rs 20, while the bags start from Rs 250 to Rs 300
(Top) Art teacher Netai Chakraborty from Nadia has put up a stall that sells owls made from betel nuts. Prices start from Rs 150. (Above) A few steps ahead is a stall that sells puppets made out of palm leaves. Madan Mohan Dutta, the puppet-maker from Guskara, Burdwan, has been doing this since his childhood. He has six models of puppets. While the small ones are priced at Rs 30 to Rs 100, bigger ones are priced at Rs 500-600
Towards the entrance to the fair, there is a very interesting stall selling toys and lampshades made of fibre sheets. The toys made from cardboard and fibre sheets can even move. The price of the rickshaw is Rs 450, while the lampshades start from Rs 350
Masks from Charida village in Bagmundi, Purulia, are among the most sought-after items. While the small masks start from Rs 60, the prices go up to Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 and more for the bigger ones
Patachitra is another popular pick at the mela.Jhuma Chitrakar from Pingla, Paschim Medinipur, says her whole family is involved in this art. They don’t have any shops, they go to different melas all through the year to sell. The locality they stay in is full of ‘patachitrakars’. The ‘patachitras’ starts from Rs 500
An open-air stalls selling a wide array of colourful items
Bishnurobi Das from Malda makes and sells percussion instruments such as dhol, dabli, damroo made out of wood and leather. The professional dhak player also plays the instruments. All handcrafted, the damroo costs Rs 250, the dhol and dabli start from Rs 400
Different handicraft items being made on the mela ground
Some prize-winning handicraft items on display at the fair
Visitors at the handicrafts mela
(Top) Manisha Dey from Palta and Arnab Rana from Dakhineswar have been visiting the mela for the past four to five years. They come here for the love of art. ‘You get to see so many different art forms in one mela. It’s so colourful and vibrant,’ said Manisha. (Above) Sampa Samanta from Howrah came to the mela with her family. ‘I come here every year. Not only do you get good stuff at an affordable price range but also get to see handicraft from different parts of Bengal. It’s really worth visiting every year’