Famous Dhokra art fading in its traditional village

By-Manish Kumar

Sadeibereni (Dhenkanal) May 3: Collecting metal scraps from nearby towns and villages and converting those into decorative masterpieces are now an integral part of the livelihood of around 150 households in Sadeibereni village, around 65kms from Bhubaneswar. This projected rural tourism site in the Dhenkanal district, known for its Dhokra craftsmanship, has been attracting domestic and international tourists for the last few years.

Dhokra art, which is believed to be 5,000-year-old, is a folk craft form based on lost-wax metal casting technique. The Dhokra craftsmen combine their understanding of the metal with their sense of artistry. The artists here use clay cast and bee wax threads that would go on to create minute intricate designs on metals, among other things. They melt scrap metals, usually brass, and pour the liquid metal into the hollow clay casts to make attractive figures, which vary in designs, shapes and sizes. Dhokra designs are in great demand in the domestic and the international market.

On an average around three persons from each household are directly involved in the work and almost every house in the village is engaged in this traditional work. Known globally for keeping alive the ancient art form, the village, however, has been grappling with myriad problems, which are eating into the vitality of the villagers and hampering their growth prospects. Although several foreign and domestic tourists often flock to the site, many villagers feel lack of basic infrastructure in the village is preventing them from attaining optimum success.

“Marketing of our products is a major challenge for us. We have to visit Bhubaneswar and other big cities to sell our products, as the local markets do not have much room for those; neither do we get the best price for our work here. Lack of government assistance in selling our products is proving to be a hurdle for us. We are struggling to keep our tradition alive and we desperately need a market link to sell our work,” said 54-year-old Ramesh Pradhan, a craftsman from the village.

Like other villages connected to rural tourism, this village in Sadar Block too, lacks a dedicated workshop and a museum/gallery where the craftsmen can either work or display their creations. “We do not have any proper place to work in our village. Most of the people work in their small courtyard and often spread their tools on the common cemented village street. This often interferes with the free movement of the tourists and visitors, who come to our village. I think the government should build a workshop for us where we can work properly without contemplating on other things,” said 22-year-old Manas Pradhan, a craftsman living in the village.

Many in the village, however, are concerned about the monsoons, which is likely to hit Orissa in a couple of months. “Monsoons and rains badly affect our work. We all stop our Dhokra work for the 3-4 months at that time due to several reasons. The wax does not catch the clay during monsoons properly; it also becomes difficult to operate blast furnaces as water clogs inside and therefore, drying up clay casts becomes unmanageable. At that time we shift to agricultural work,” said Vishwa Pradhan, another craftsman from the village.

Another villager, on condition of anonymity, said, “Many tourists come to our village; we, however, feel embarrassed due to non-availability of some basic amenities such as public toilets, seating arrangements, roads, signboards, a common selling point, etc. I think we have huge potential but we need some basic infrastructure that will help us accommodate and entertain the visitors  betters.”

The villagers, however, are enthused by some of the government interventions. Kokila Das, a 65-year-old woman, from the village said, “We used to face a little bit of electricity problem in the village. So, most of the people in the village worked on Dhokra art outside their houses. But now we have been given free solar lamps. Every household has received it. It has helped us to work even during nights. We charge it during the day and use it in the evening. We are really happy and grateful to the authorities for the same.”

The state government, meanwhile, is planning to develop the village to boost rural tourism in the state. Talking to Orissa POST, Manjulata Dalai, deputy director, state department of tourism said, “We are planning to boost rural tourism in the state. The government has already sanctioned Rs 5cr for Sadeibereni; Rs 2.5cr has been disbursed to the collector of Dhenkanal to execute development work there. Meanwhile, the state tourism department has prepared a detailed project report and has sent it to the Central government for granting of funds for the development of the village. We are now waiting for their reply.”

The close proximity of Sadeibereni to other craft and heritage villages and the nearby tourist sites amplifies its prominence. According to tour operators, a person visiting places close to Athagarh such as Nuapatna, Dhenkanal, Manibadha, Ansupa, Naraj etc. can easily visit the village, en route, to get a holistic experience of the dhokra
craftsmanship.

(Published in Orissa post newspaper on May 4th, 2015)