Traditionally, crafting objects out of coconut shell to make household objects was practiced by coconut farmers. They would scoop out the copra by making a neat hole at the top of the shell, and use the shell, which was the waste or by-product.
It is believed that as a craft, coconut shell/wood carving could have been experimented with by craftsmen from the Vishwakarma community in Kerala. Traditionally involved in sword making and carving wood and ivory, they may have tried out coconut wood and shell as well.


Coconut shell and wood craft is primarily prevalent in Kerala: in and around Calicut, Trivandrum, Attingal, Neyyatinkara and Quilandy in Kozhikode. Other states where this craft is practiced are Goa, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and a few parts of Bengal, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu. Another instance of availability of coconut shell craft is in the tribal belt of Bastar where intricately designed patterns in white metal are inlayed in the shell and cut to make bangles

This craft is also prevalent in other countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Java, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Kavin crafts is group of artisans from Pondicheery India,manufacturing eco friendly handmade products.Kavin’s Craft has a small production unit with a lathe machine and a vertical drilling machine.

Auroville, a place known for its calm and peace with its diversity is also known for its handicrafts. Auroville doesn’t just promote human unity but also helps the struggling craftsmen. With people coming from all over the place, most of them have come there for a progressive conviction of living with no networks they get closer to discovering themselves and their priorities.

Paper Machie is one of the major crafts in Pondicherry that was getting lost in the technological based world. The artisans who had their living based on the craft were moving to other professions due to lack of financial stability. So when an Israeli got interested in it. He decided to invest some money and establish a brand where he employed to help women from that community to gain a better living.
These women now work in the beautiful village near Auroville creating dolls and baskets made out of recycled paper. In the earlier days clay toys were the main attraction but soon craftsmen in Auroville started making toys out of paper which later evolves into baskets and pen holders etc.


The figures of deities were more in demand but these days they make animals and other toys for children. These toys and dolls are colourful as a part of the religious services. The main colours used are orange and red and the accessories are painted on the dolls to make them look rich. Nature, Mythology, folklore these are the themes the craftsmen use to entice the buyers. Now nearly 300 units are involved in the making of paper Machie dolls around in Pondicherry.

The basic technique used in making these dolls are quite simple as they have moulds and the paper which they use to make these dolls are generally newspapers to decrease the cost in making. The baskets are made by rolling the newspapers into a thin roll and pasting them in the right shape on top of another. They are then coated with varnish to stay strong. They don’t paint the baskets as the main aim of the craft is know the beauty of papers that are rolled beautifully into shapes and sizes. Whereas the paper Machie dolls are painted with details.

The making of these dolls takes around two to three days generally. When you walk into the place, it’s filled with colourful that sit beautifully on their shelves and the beautiful baskets in various sizes that are kept. The prices of these are quite expensive as they are a striving community.

Documented by Lakshana vivek

Jute in India addressed as the “Golden Fibre” is one of the most common raw materials for packaging and for making exquisite craft items. Eco friendly and cheapest known natural fiber, jute has offered global market a chance to bequeath plastic generation a formal good bye. The usage of Jute as a raw material unfurled its existence in the ancient Indian scriptures namely Manu Samhita and Mahabharata. Evidence of the trade of jute cloth in the 16th century still whispers from the pages of history. “Ain-i-akbari” (1590) mentions sackcloth originating from Bengal. The present scenario of jute craft offers a huge inspiration to the jute craft in India and encourages its expansion and demand in abroad. With the progression of time, this established from of jute craft is flourishing in the national and international market.





The jute fibre comes from the stem and ribbon (outer skin) of the jute plant. The fibres are first extracted by retting. The retting process consists of bundling just stems together and immersing them in low, running water. There are two types of retting: stem and ribbon. After the retting process, stripping begins. This job is done mostly by women in the village. In the stripping process, non-fibrous matter is scraped off, then the workers dig in and grab the fibres from within the jute stem. 


Jute floor covering consists of woven, tufted and piled carpets. Jute mats and matting with 5/6 meter width and of continuous length are easily being woven in solid and fancy shades and in different weaves like boucle, panama, herringbone etc. jute mats are made both through power loom and handloom in large volume. The traditional Satranji mat is becoming very popular in home décor. Jute non woven are composites are used for underlay, linoleum substrate and more. Jute has many advantages as a home textile, either replacing cotton or blending with it. It is a strong, durable, colour and light fast fibre. Its UV protection, sound and heat insulation, low thermal conduction and anti-static properties make it a wise choice in home décor. Also, fabric made of jute fibres are carbon-dioxide neutral and naturally decomposable. These properties are also why jute can be used in high performance technical textile. Moreover, jute can be grown in 4-6 months with a huge amount of cellulose being produced from the jute hard that can meet most of the wood needs of the world. Jute is the major crop among others that is able to protect deforestation by industrialization. Thus jute is the most environment friendly fibre starting from the seed to expired fibre, as the expired fibres can be recycled more than once.   

Contact
 The Dharti Jute Craft 
100, New Complex, JN Street, Heritage Town, Pondicherry, 605001
www.dartijutecraft.com, contact no-: 0413 222 5533.

Documented by Sonali Islary

The exclusive way of making handmade paper out of cotton rags in Pondicherry is an art. These papers are made using natural fibres like rags, straws, cotton, banana, husk, wool etc.    
 Sri Aurobindo Ashram prepared handmade paper on a very small scale from waste material as a creative and useful work. The papers are produced from 100% cotton rag pulp. Beautifully textured, versatile, and durable the paper is perfect for paper products and packaging, sculpture, picture framing, covers, bookbinding, preventive conservation enclosures, and more.

 Pondicherry is a French colonial settlement in India until 1954, is now a Union Territory town bounded by the south-eastern Tamil Nadu state. The Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry is a spiritual community. The ashram grew out of a small community of disciples who had gathered around Sri Aurobindo after he retired from politics and settled in Pondicherry in 1910. In the mid 1940's “sadhaks”of Sri Aurobindo Ashram prepared handmade paper. In 1959 larger-scale papermaking equipment was installed in a coconut garden, including a beater, lifting vats, and a calendaring machine. The coconut garden is the location of the factory today, in the heart of Pondicherry.

FIBRE TO FANCY PAPER
 Locally sourced, white fine-cotton rag is the main raw material. The rags are sorted by hand before being cut into finer pieces. The rags enter into the beaters and are turned into a pulp, ready to be made into paper. Measured amounts of pulp are hand-poured through the lifting machines to form individual sheets. Each sheet is hand-lifted and set on a felt blanket to be drained and hung in the drying rooms at the top of the factory. Once dry, each sheet is placed in between stainless steel calendaring plates to be smoothened. Dry, smooth, then cut, the paper is ready for one of many possibilities – marbling, screen printing, product manufacture, or sold as is. Natural, handmade, and filled with the consciousness of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the paper is distributed around the world. It has been the feature of museums, hotels, corporates, weddings, art, universities, and archival preservation.
The process of marbling is another exclusive process, where locally sourced oil based paints are sprinkled as droplets in a tray containing water. Then with the help of a stick different patterns are made in it. After making the patterns the papers are placed on it and left for 5-10 mins. When taken out, the patterns are there on the paper and left for drying in a drying room for one day.
 The store that the factory has, sells a lot of products made up of the papers prepared in the factory other than the papers itself. The prices are very reasonable.

The craft is very popular in that area and is flourishing day by day. The people who works in the factory are very loyal as most of them have been there for more than 15 years and some have even been a part of it for more than 30 years. Also because of the kind of products that they make and the variations they come up with in the products, makes it more interesting for the customers.