Dying Heritage of India

India, no doubt is a very big country. It is big also because of its diversity and racial character. More than 3000 castes 432 tribal communities, believers of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikh, Jain, Buddhism, and Zorastrian have been living together for centuries. Over 1650 dialects are spoken by the people of India. The harmony among the people of India is worth mentioning. 

The planners and policymakers of India have been addressing many problems and concerns of this country. They are also addressing the need of the craftsmen and their craftsmanship but probably the issue is so vast and complicated that the issue has not been touched in complete form. In most of the states of India, Crafts Boards are looking after the problems of the craftsmen and their crafts. These Boards are also involved in promoting the dying crafts by way of initiating market links, entrepreneurship skills, organizing crafts melas, and bazaars, helping the craftsmen to export their products, honoring the craftsmen with the best craftsman of the state, providing scholarship, etc. But we must not forget one thing that covering the need of all 169,00000 craftsmen and their crafts is not a simple task. It needs the involvement of people from all walks of life: planners, policymakers, administrators, technicians, politicians, technical experts, lovers of arts, craftsmen themselves, and last but not least everybody of the community. 

Modern developments, pressure of science and technology, governmental policies to bring the underprivileged into the mainstream, material prosperity, and communication facilities, have been fast invading the traditional domains and effacing the boundaries which once helped preserve them. The tribals, the minorities, and traditionally isolated communities, are trying to enter into the mainstream of life, however, in the process of the fast track of techno-centric development, many artists have either lost or fast losing the essence and aesthetics of their indigenous crafts and craftsmanship – the ultimate fabric of our age-old institutions. Whether it would be possible to contest this invasion or not, it should be certainly possible to preserve the memory of these rich cultural traditions and customs before they vanish from our sight.  

The following deserve special notice: 

• Major Traditions – Vedic & Classical (Performing Arts). 
• Minor Traditions – Folk Traditions, Folk Theatres, Vanishing Arts, Socio-Religious Traditions (Sufi, Veerashaiva, etc.) 
• Sacred space and / rituals connected with Nature and Environment. 
• Vanishing Script and Languages. 
• Ritual Arts. 
• Oral Tradition – Katha Kalakshepa, Folk Songs/ and Performances etc. 
• Vanishing Sports 
• Gender Issues  
• Harvest Rituals. 
• Tribal Traditions. 

However, we also understand that in a country like India where 169,00000 craftsmen have been living practicing verities of living, vibrant, utilitarian, decorative, dying, and vanishing crafts, it is a very difficult task to pinpoint and identify all forms and craftsmen in a small period. A project of this nature certainly requires a fairly large time frame, huge financial assistance, a group of committed scholars and experts of Indian crafts as resources persons, young and committed research assistants, photographers, and lots of technical and administrative workforce. With the available resources and experts, an attempt has been made to identify prominent crafts and craftsmen of India covering the Indian States.

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