Arts and Crafts
In a land where the coconut is king, many of The cralts Keraia are woven, and carved, around the coconut. 'Kerain', which is what the coconut palm is called, could well have given rise to the word Kerala: land of coconut palms. Coir, the protective fibre of the nut, is used extensively in this sea-fringed state and if you drive from Cochin (now Kochi) to Alleppev (which has also reverted to its old name ofAllapuzha), you will pass a number of colourful roadside stalls with bright door-mats, wall hangings and carpets spread in attractive display. Many visitors, fascinated by the skill of coir crafters, often stop and walk into the palm groves where workers spin fibre into ropes using traditional hand spindles. Alternatively, they visit mechanised coir factories from which great bales of coir malting are exported all over the world. The Scandinavians, in particular, have shown a marked preference for this natural fibre which has now moved up from the floor to the walls. Coir's excellent insulating properties also give a superb textured look. And it virtually needs no maintenance.
Coconut shells and coconut wood take on an almost marble-like sheen when polished. Increasingly, they are being used by the crofters of Kerala to create a whole range of souvenirs and trinkets. It is often difficult to distinguish objects made from coconut shell from those made from the more expensive, and now forbidden, tortoise shell. In our ecologically conscious land endangered sea turtles are protected animals and trade in tortoise shell has been banned.
For much the same reason, you might be able to admire but do be very careful about buying beautifully sculpted creations made from ivory. Elephants are also on our protected list and only old ivory can be used sold, but then if its too old the buyer might have trouble taking it out of India. Indian antiques cannot be exported without permission.
Buffalo-horn carving, however, is still very much in vogue and the horn is pared and whittled into shape. It has an attractive translucency, and is best seen when combined with wood, particularly any of the dark woods of Kerala resembling ebony.
Wood carving continues to be a major crait in Kerala and the range of statuettes and other objects d'art is as wide as anvone could wish for. Beautifully grained teak, deep-wine rosewood and fragrant sandal wood are favoured by Kerala's craftsmen. In India, most crafts are still in the hands of traditional artisan families and they use virtually the same techniques and materials that their ancestors did. Thus, the new is often as good as the old in our land.
This also applies to the famed metal-ware of Kerala, particularly its lamps. Kerala's beautiful oil lamps are designed either to hang or to be free-standing. Among the hanging lamps are horse-lamps, elephant lamps and bird lamps: so called after the main motif on the lamp. Traditionally, however, they are named after the purpose for which they were originally designed: lamps of offering, prayer lamps and external lamps, for instance. Most casual visitors, however, opt for the tiny standing lamps which range from ones a few centimeters high to the massive waist-high ones. The central recess holds the oil, wicks are placed in the lip or lips. If there's a little spoon attached to the lamp then there's also an oil reservoir, often shaped like a bird or animal, from which oil can be poured to replenish the recess which feeds the flaming wicks. Any slow-burning oil will do, including olive oil if you can't get any of our Indian oils.
A very special metal craft, unique to Kerala and the secret of a few families, is the Aranmula metal mirror. The mirror is made of an alloy of tin and copper but the exact proportions of the two metals and the technique of Grafting it into an excellent reflecting surface had almost died out. Thanks, however, to the increasing interest shown by visitors, the number of Aranmula mirror makers has increased and genuine Aranmula mirrors can be seen in most handicraft shops in Kerala.
The green-ness of Kerala... it is, without doubt the most verdant state in India... holds a number of fibre-producing plants apart from the dominating coconut fibre. And all these fibres are crafted on the simplest of equipment: often not more than nails driven into a board. Thus fibrous reeds are cleverly laced together to make place-mats in the most attractive designs. The cactus-like sisal and the marsh-loving screw-pine yield fine fibres which are woven into shopping bags, placemats, coasters, wall hangings. That giant grass bamboo, in all its variations, with a little help from canes which are forest creepers, are fashioned into excellent, light, furniture, planters, picture frames, room-dividers. Even the banana, with its large paddle-like leaves, hides a beautifully silky fibre in its thick, green trunk. Banana fibre is as soft as fabric thread.
One ofthe major centres of such fibre crafts is a convent in Kochi, or rather in its twin city Emakulam. Here a band of dedicated nuns teach the bright girls of Kerala how to weave these locally grown fibres and become independent cottage-industry entrepreneurs.
Clearly, thecottage crafts of Kerala are growing. And this is to be expected. Given the traditional enterprise of the Malayalee, nothing would have held them back but the limitations of the land.
