Crafts bazaar: Chamba's wood craft, Kashmir's Dhamali dance win hearts

Hoshiarpur, March 26

The wood craft of Himachal Pradesh has emerged as the first choice among visitors to the Crafts Bazaar set up by the district administration at Lajwanti Stadium while the Dhamali dance of Kashmir remained the centre of attraction among the cultural presentations being staged from Centre Stage.

Pawan Kumar, who has put up wood craft at stall number 52, belongs to Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh and all the stuff put on display-cum-sale is made from fine wood. “The wood used for making artefacts is not cut from the tress. It is that wood which comes floating from the glaciers with the floods from melted snow. It is collected and different types of items are made from it,” said Pawan. He told that it takes 3 to 4 hours to a whole day to make a artefacts whether for religious practice, utensils or animal figures etc. Pawan learnt this art from his father Hansraj and his family is engaged in the art for generations. He has also received special training from Handicraft Centre in Chamba.

Pawan said the art is gradually dying as people are getting attracted towards the machine age. Now, there are just about 15 such artisans in Chamba district. The government was promoting artisans by providing such platforms like Crafts Bazaar and the facilities which he has got here are commendable.

There on the Centre Stage, the Dhamali dance of Kashmir remains the top choice of the people. Bashir Ahmad Shah, the head of the Dhamali dance group, explains that, of the three presiding deities of Hinduism, Bhagwan Shiv is the main deity. They display the power of Bhagwan Shiv, who, through his dance controls the cycle of life and if Bhagwan Shiv stops dancing, the whole creation will stop. Similarly, Dhamali dance is a spiritual dance, through which peace and non-dual God is worshipped. At the end of the dance, the dancers raise both their hands upwards and pray to the Almighty God and express their faith in him.

Bashir learnt this dance from his grandfather Kamal Shah and father Ghulam Qadir Shah. As many as 15 people participate in this, when there is some calamity like there is no rain, then people pray to God by performing Dhamali dance playing drums. The dance is also performed on special programmes on Republic Day, Independence Day and Dasehra. He told that one of the dancers has a long stick, which is called Alam. It is believed that any person who wants to pray to God for some wish, then he prays by tying a thread on this stick, and God definitely fulfills the wish. He told that he also gets full support from the government, also, the Sangeet Academy and Kashmir Cultural Academy provide him full support. — OC