The living soul of Arunachal Pradesh and its six sisters from the Northeast is the focus of Gandhi Bunkar Mela, a national handloom expo being held at Arunachal Bhawan in Salt Lake’s CE Block. Organised by the Arunachal Pradesh Handloom & Handicrafts Development Society (APHHDS) in collaboration with the Department of Textile & Handicrafts, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, and sponsored by the Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, the expo features 81 stalls with handicrafts from across India, with special thematic attention paid to Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of the Northeast
All photos by Amit Pramanik
The expo opened its doors to visitors on December 16 and will continue till December 29, between 11am and 9pm. “Nobody can find the products on sale at this mela in any other part of Kolkata. Everything you find here has been painstakingly handcrafted in the homes of artisans and reflects age-old local traditions and customs. Arunachal is a tribal land, and we’ve tried our best to sensitise people about indigenous tribal art forms and give adequate representation to all tribes,” said Ritam Saha, the co-ordinator of the mela
From barks of local trees shaved and arched into flowers to slices of pine cones ingeniously arranged to assume the shape of a fish, from handspun woollen footwear for children to polished showpieces of the great hornbill, from fragrant local germicides — which are fitting contenders to consider for mass-produced room fresheners — to vests, shawls and traditional ‘komos’ featuring striking GI-tagged geometrical patterns, the expo is home to a seemingly endless array of products crafted with passion and precision. This includes canonical tribal headgears, sturdy enough to be worn into battle!
“Not everyone can go to Arunachal Pradesh, which is why we’ve brought the essence of the land of the dawn-lit mountains to Kolkata. Some of the Arunachal products of this mela will be kept in the Bhawan’s emporium for sale even after the expo concludes on December 29,” said Amal Bhattacharya, who is in-charge of the mela. “Face-to-face interaction helps artisans understand markets better. All the stalls here are supported with government aid. The stay, travel and marketing of the artisans are taken care of and they also receive an honorarium for their participation,” stated Bamin Yakang from the Ministry of Textiles and Handicrafts, serving as the marketing inspector of this nook of pan-Indian wonder in Salt Lake
Apart from Arunachal and the Northeast, the exhibition also has a wide range of products from other parts of India. Be it sarees from West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand and Sikkim or pashmina shawls and overcoats from Kashmir, leather bags from Mumbai or ‘chikankari’ products from Lucknow, the expo is a riot of colours, patterns and textures, with the flavour quotient coming from locals supplying ‘koraishuttir kochuri’, ‘keema ghugni’, ‘patishapta’ and other delicacies
