Elements
Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India
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Manage No, Sortation, Country, Writer ,Date, Copyright Manage No EE00000103 Country India ICH Domain Oral traditions and representations Social practices, rituals, festive events Traditional craft skills Address The craftspeople occupy a specific settlement-'Bazar Thatherian'(market of the Thatheras), Gali Kashmirian, in the small town of Jandiala Guru about 15 km from the holy town of Amritsar, on the Grand Trunk Road in the state of Punjab, India.
| Description | The element consists of the traditional craftsmanship of a community called Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India. The Thatheras craft utensils are of both utilitarian and ritualistic value made of copper, brass and kansa (an alloy of copper, zinc and tin). The metals used are recommended by the ancient Indian school of medicine, Ayurveda. In Ayurvedic texts, copper is regarded as an ideal metal for making cooking utensils and possessing medicinal properties. On the other hand, kansa is the prescribed metal for retaining the nutritive values of food. The settlement of the craftspeople in Jandiala Guru is laid out along a series of narrow lanes, lined on both sides by small home-cum-worksheds with families living and working on their hereditary profession. Both male and female members participate in the processing and creation of the artefacts. The process begins with procuring cooled cakes of metal which are flattened into thin plates, and are then hammered into curved shapes, creating the required pots, urns, plates and bowls and other artefacts. Heating the plates while hammering and curving them into different shapes requires careful temperature control, which is done by using tiny wood-fired stoves (aided by hand-held bellows) buried in the earth. The utensils are manually finished by polishing with acid, sand and tamarind juice. Designs are carved by skilfully hammering a series of tiny dents on the surface of the heated metal. Using basic tools that are handmade, the craftspeople create ritualistic, ceremonial and utilitarian vessels for both individual and community use. |
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| Social and cultural significance | The artefacts created by the Thatheras are closely linked to their social lives and to the culture of the larger ethnic Punjabi community. The vessels produced by the Thatheras range from small bowls (katora), rimmed plates (thali), to larger pots for water and milk (gagar), and huge cooking vessels (degh, pateela, karahi). While the smaller vessels are used in individual households, the larger ones are used in big community kitchens where the tradition is to feed many hundreds of people on special occasions, at weddings, temples, and also at Gurudwaras where the Sikhs pray and food is provided to the devotees. The utensils also have specialized usage ritualistic in nature. For instance, a particular type of bowl called Madhupurkha is used to feed a mixture of curd and honey to a new bridegroom after the nuptials. Chhayapatra is a plate in which oil is poured and the bride and groom look at each other’s reflections, sometimes for the first time. The identification of the element with the community is nearly perfect – the Hindi language primers for elementary education often identifies the alphabet 'Th' with that of the Thathera. Given that the economic, social and cultural viability of the Thathera household is closely linked with this metal crafting, the element performs an important role in the very survival of the Thathera community and their traditional knowledge. It is equally important for its user community where a Thathera utensil is a must in homes, temples and gurudwaras. |
| Transmission method | Knowledge and skills are transmitted orally. Closely linked to the social and cultural identity of their heritage and oral knowledge tradition, the Thatheras transmit their learning by oral means, from fathers to sons, from elders to the young, through an intergenerational transfer over the generations. This mechanism is strengthened by the reality that the social, cultural and economic viability of the household and their identity within the community of the Thatheras depend solely on the successful transmission and learning of this craft. The art, skill, and knowledge, process of crafting, and lifestyle of the Thatheras reflect their social and ethnic identity as an occupational group. In fact, the very name of the community draws its identity from their skill in this craft. Given the strong oral transmission of inherited knowledge, the stakeholders, viz., family patriarchs, etc., are recognized as both the repository, custodians and disseminators of this traditional knowledge. This has an important spin-off in that the stakeholders also acquire skills and knowledge in inter-disciplinary fields of health, social customs and practices such as metallurgy, etc. |
| Community | The crafting process is carried out by a specific group of craftspeople, known as Thatheras, who have a unique ethnic and historical identity with an oral tradition that underpin their skill. In fact, the very name of the community – ‘Thathera’ – is identical with the name of the element. The Thatheras’ social and cultural identity is entirely defined by their occupation. Metalwork is much more than a form of livelihood for them – it defines the Thatheras' family and kinship structures, work-ethic and status within the social hierarchy of the town. Thatheras all belong to the Khatri caste/social group: here they form part of a lineage of specialized craftspeople who do not practice any other occupation. The structure of functioning in Jandiala Guru is of a community with the family as the principal unit. The Thatheras generally live in patriarchal family units, where the male members carry forward this tradition with the female members also participating in the process of crafting by assisting in allied areas of this work and art. According to local sources and the 'District Gazetteer' (1883), the crafts colony was established during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the great 19th century Sikh monarch, who encouraged skilled metal crafters from Kashmir to settle in the heart of his kingdom in the Punjab. Jandiala Guru became an area of repute due to the skill of the Thatheras. |
| Type of UNESCO List | Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity |
| Incribed year in UNESCO List | 2014 |