The tinkling sound beckons


As the breeze blows through the leaves on the campus, the bells tinkle in the stall. Each with its own voice, each with its distinct musical sound. The bells bring distant Kutch to Kalakshetra and beguile the buyer with their quaint charm. Abdul Sattar S. Luhar’s stall was part of the crafts fair held recently by Dastkari Haat in collaboration with the Kalakshetra Foundation.

These hand-made bells are traditionally used by herders in the semi- arid expanse in Gujarat to trace their cattle. So skilfully are they made and so varied and clear are their tones that they serve as a badge of identity for the cattle. They are a boon to the herders as their sound can be heard across miles. “We know from the sound of its bell which cow went this way and which that”, gestures Abdul happily.

The copper coated bells are a speciality of the villages of Zura, Nirona and Bhuj in Kutch, Gujarat. In Zura, 34 year old Sattar and his five brothers live together in Shanti Nagar on ‘the Airport Road.’ The family members fashion these bells in the courtyard of their house very much as their father and grandfather did. Sattar’s eyes shine when he talks abut his hereditary craft. It is passion that won for him the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay award when he was a boy of 14.................Click for more

 

 Source Web Page: The Hindu


Comments (0)



Please Login or Register to join groups