|
Bamboo Craft traditional crafts using bamboo
as their raw material. Rural people in general are both producers and
consumers of this product. Bamboo has manifold uses, its low cost making
it the primary material for articles of everyday use such as stools, mats,
baskets, traps as well as decorative items. It is important both in life
and after death. It is used for building houses, as well as to make ladders
and scaffolds for building and repairing houses. It is also used in both
Hindu and Muslim funerals, for burning or burying the dead.
|
|
Bamboo Baskets |
Wedding Dali or Tray |
|
|
Ornamental Wall Piece |
Bamboo Fans |
Twenty-six species of bamboo are available in Bangladesh.
Three species that are used for industrial purposes are muli,
talla and baira. Although bamboo products do not have a long
life, their varied uses and low prices have made the industry a profitable
one. Much of the technology is primitive and has remained unaltered for
more than thousand years. The bangladesh
national museum in Dhaka has in its collection a Buddha (c
10th century; collection no. 1115) found in dinajpur
which shows him seated, not on the traditional lotus seat, but on what
appears to be a stool made of bamboo and cane. Such stools are still made
in Bangladesh.
There is hardly any aspect of rural life in Bangladesh
where bamboo products are not in use. Bamboo mathal (hat) and bamboo
baskets are used in farm work. Fishermen use bamboo traps and creels to
catch and store fish: chai, khalui, juita, etc. Traditional
houses often have roofs made of bamboo, dochala (two-sided roof),
charchala (four-sided roof) or atchala (eight-sided roof)
as well as bamboo fences. Other common craft items include jhap
(hanging door or lid), belki and darma (screen). In
the past bamboo was also used to make weapons such as barsha (pike),
dhal (shield), lathi (stick), tir (arrow), dhanuk
(bow), and vallam (spear). Roofs of boats and bullock carts
are also made of bamboo, as are frames of rickshaw hoods. The traditional
flute, an essential folk
musical instrument, is made of bamboo as is the body of the
ektara.
Bamboo toys and dolls are popular and cheap.
The bamboo forms part of the lifestyle of tribal people.
An intricate bamboo dance is performed by chakma
girls, and sections of bamboo are used to carry and transport cooked rice.
Utensils made of bamboo are made attractive by weaving delicate slivers
of bamboo into designs. Large, conical bamboo baskets are widely used
in the tea gardens of sylhet.
khasia
tribes use bamboo baskets for keeping betel leaves.
Bamboo utensils such as kula (winnowing fan),
jhudi (basket), chalani (sieve), dala (tray, specially
used for drying pickles) are part of everyday life and are used in both
rural and urban kitchens. Lately the use of bamboo furniture has become
fashionable. Bamboo is also being used to make attractive ashtrays, flower
vases, cosmetic boxes, picture frames, mirror frames, pens, etc. [Zinat
Mahrukh Banu]
|
