sandeep (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} deepsan) wrote,@ 2008-05-12 17:15:00 |
|
| Entry tags: | bidar, bidri, bidriwork, northkarnataka_jan2008, photo |
Bidri Work
Etching the design : one of the steps in Bidri Work; Bidar, Karnataka.
Bidri : Silver inlay work brought down by the Persians and localized here has become one of the unique arts of Bidar.
Our search for this unique art began by asking about it at the hotel reception in Bidar, he did not know where it was made but another person sitting at the reception did: all the workers had their own housing complex, Bidri Colony, and that was where they worked in their homes. We thought the best way to get there was to take an autorickshaw since the driver would know exactly where it was; the auto driver knew the place and mentioned that the colony had existed for as long as he could remember. He took us to the sales depot there and then after talking to the manager there took us to a couple of workshops where it was being done.
We got to know how it is made from a person who works on it everyday. The base metal is an alloy of zinc and copper which is molded into the required shape and then blackened. Then starts the time-consuming process of first drawing the design, then etching the drawn design so that it has grooves running along all the lines and then filling the grooves with silver wire. The wire is meticulously hammered into the grooves and once this is done the product is given its final polish and is ready to be sold. The products can be bought in some of the stores in Bidar but it makes better sense to buy them directly from the artisans here.
North-Karnataka, January, 2008
