Musical Instruments and Handicraft
Musical Instruments and Handicraft
Jharkhand's crafts come from its forests and its metal. Bamboo, wood, stone, clay, dokra metal casting and tasar silk are the main traditions, and the drums used at every festival are themselves village-made objects.
Signature craft — dokra metal casting | Signature textile — tasar silk | Signature drum — mandar
Instruments as craft objects
- Mandar — a clay-bodied drum with skin on both faces, made by village potters
- Nagara — a metal or clay kettle drum played with sticks
- Dhak, Dhol and Dhamsa — large drums used in processions and Chhau
- Tamak and Tumdak — the Santhal drum pair
- Banam — a bowed string instrument carved from a single block of wood
- Tirio, Bansuri and Narsingha — wind instruments of the region
- Making these instruments is itself a hereditary craft in some communities
Main handicrafts
| Craft | Material | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Dokra or Dhokra | Bell metal, lost wax casting | Practised by the Malhar and related communities |
| Bamboo craft | Bamboo and cane | Forest districts across the state |
| Wood carving | Sal and other timber | Traditional in several tribal belts |
| Stone carving | Local stone | Rajmahal and other quarry belts |
| Terracotta and pottery | Clay | Village potter communities |
| Tasar silk weaving | Tasar cocoon | Kuchai in Seraikela and nearby |
| Chhau mask making | Clay, paper and cloth | Seraikela |
Dokra metal craft
- Made by the lost wax method, one of India's oldest metal casting techniques
- A clay core is covered with wax, then clay again; molten metal replaces the melted wax
- Each piece is unique because the mould is broken to remove it
- Typical products are figurines, lamps, animals and tribal deity forms
- The technique links directly to the region's ancient copper and metal tradition
Textiles and other work
- Tasar silk is the state's best known textile, reared on asan and arjun trees
- Kuchai in Seraikela-Kharsawan is a well known tasar weaving centre
- Tribal ornaments in silver, brass and beads have distinctive local forms
- Lac bangles connect the craft sector with the state's lac cultivation
- Bamboo baskets, mats and fishing gear are made for use rather than for sale
- Craft is now supported through cooperatives, exhibitions and marketing bodies
Craft, income and policy
- Craft is a lean season income for families who farm only in the monsoon
- Most of it is household work, so it needs very little capital
- Marketing is the weak link — producers sell cheap and middlemen take the margin
- Cooperatives, self-help groups and state emporia try to shorten that chain
- A GI tag or a design award raises price and recognition, as with Sohrai Khovar
- Craft tourism around Seraikela masks and Amadubi paintings is being promoted
ढोकरा (Dokra) धातु शिल्प लुप्त मोम विधि से बनता है, जिसमें सांचा तोड़कर मूर्ति निकाली जाती है। इसीलिए हर टुकड़ा अनोखा होता है।
Memory hook — Char shilp, char samagri — Dokra dhatu, Bamboo bans, Tasar resham, Mukhauta mitti. Aur ek vaadya — Mandar, mitti ka dhol.
Yahan confuse hote hain — Dokra aur saadharan dhatu dhalai ek nahi hain.
✗ Dokra pieces are cast in a reusable mould | ✓ In dokra the mould is broken each time, so every piece is unique
✗ Tasar resham shahtoot par palta hai | ✓ Tasar asan aur arjun vrikshon par palta hai; shahtoot mulberry resham ke liye hai
Exam pointer — JSSC CGL, JKCE aur JTET me shilp-samagri aur vaadya-samuday ka matching seedha aata hai. JPSC me shilp aur ajeevika ka rishta Mains me aata hai, khaaskar lac aur tasar ke saath. Ek table yaad karo, ye topic khatam.
Ek nazar me
- Dokra — bell metal casting by the lost wax method
- Every dokra piece is unique because the mould is broken
- Tasar silk — reared on asan and arjun trees
- Kuchai in Seraikela is a known tasar weaving centre
- Chhau mask making — a craft of Seraikela
- Bamboo, wood, stone and terracotta are the other main crafts
- Mandar — clay drum, the signature instrument
- Nagara, dhak, dhamsa — large drums
- Tamak and tumdak — Santhal drum pair
- Banam — bowed string instrument carved from one block
Ab kala, sanskriti aur parv par prashn ExamAtlas mock test me practice karo — JPSC aur JSSC dono pattern me.