Heavy Metal at Bastar
At a distance of about 80km from Jadgalpur lies a small village in the Kondagaon region. This settlement, once deep in the Maoist belt, houses a small, almost non-descript NGO called Saathi Samaj Sevi Sanstha that through its roughly 30 years of existence has been encouraging local artisans to practise their age-old skills.
Since we had already decided that we would not make it a rushed trip, we had time at our disposal when in Chattisgarh. Sudha had read about Saathi Samaj Seva Sanstha, and we decided we would head that way.
The Bastar region is famous for metal crafts (loh-shilp, or iron sculptures in local lingo) as well as terracotta work. We caught a glimpse of the work at a stop on the way at Bastar Ghat, but the store owner gracefully asked us to go on to the village and directly pick stuff from the NGO. It was generous of him, as we later realized that the store earns about a 100% margin on the items. After lunch at Kondagaon, we entered the Deokahargaon village, whereupon our driver suddenly said — Let’s leave by 4 PM; this may not be entirely safe and you have a small kid with you. I wasn’t sure if it was true, or his way to tell us to hurry after seeing us dawdle the previous day at what must have seemed weird urban interests — stops to take pictures of memorial graves, long discussions with temple priests over local history and indulging (more accurately, encouraging) little Rey’s desire to spot as many JCBs, tractors and trains along the way as possible.
We had realized during our trip to Madhya Pradesh last year that our impression of villages was hopelessly outdated. We expected most villages to have mud houses and thatched roofs only to see that villages were smaller versions of towns, less populated, but as reliant on cement houses as elsewhere. The same was true in Chattisgarh, but traditional occupations still survived — many homes had enclosures for housing cattle or poultry.
We turned a short road in the village to enter the NGO compound and were immediately welcomed with a richly decorated wall of mini-terracotta sculptures. The compound housed a large ground, and we spotted a bunch of workers huddled under a tree, busy working their small coal stoves to heat metal, while others were hammering soft glowing iron into intricate shapes. At the far end was a small building that served as a store. Though at a distance, we spotted numerous terracotta items in various stages of completion on the roof.
We headed inside the building that stored items for sale, thankful that there were pigeons nearby for Rey to shoo (something he loves doing for hours together), and spotted a vast array of amazing wrought iron and bronze items for sale.
Sudha and I share an endless fascination for artwork across different regions in the world. Each culture evolves its own tastes and representations, often highlighting what’s important in their main works of art.
The metal work at the NGO had statues in the traditional Bastar style — long torsos compared to the rest of the body (even Ganesha murthis as slimmer and taller here). Figures were depicted in various activities — selling fish, shooting arrows, seated on bulls, and in enthralling dance movements.
We spent the better part of an hour, slowly walking around and admiring the collection here as well as the terracotta collection on the terrace left to dry. In terracotta, Bastar art focusses on elephant figures decked with multiple bells.
On the way back, we stopped at an emporium selling items from the NGO and spotted an intricate metal sculpture, almost a foot and a half high and half as wide, that showed Krishna reciting the Geeta to Arjun and the figure of Hanuman on the flag listening in rapt attention.
For those interested, the NGO also sells their work online. If you’re looking for interesting curios to do up your place, definitely take a look at their work.
The more we travel, the more we realize how much more there is to see, admire and absorb. To more travel then. And may there be many more stories to revel in.
Note: This is a post from November 2017
