It’s Chitari Aali - a lane that got its name in honour of these artisans based here and which now is a busiest part of the market in Sawantwadi, just across the border in Maharashtra. Known for its wooden wonders, a walk in Chitari Aali at Ubha Bazar offers a treat to the eyes with a variety of attractively coloured handicrafts. These include wooden fruits, vegetables, dolls, puppets, puzzles, tops, coconuts, acupressure products, stress busters, ganjifa cards, coconut trees, home décor, utility items, kitchenware, bangles, jewellery, lamps, pencil holders, pens, combs, musical instruments, rattles, money boxes, trophy, cars and bikes, lamp shades, tray and much more. Displayed in their shops adjacent to their homes - standing in a row on one side of the road, these neatly carved and beautifully crafted light wood objects compel the viewer to fall in love with them, instantly.
All the shops overflow with similar looking handicrafts and the vendors are willing to bargain. The colourful and lightweight toys that are safe-to-handle, non-toxic and harmless are available cheaply in Sawantwadi, a place known for its woodcraft industry. However few know that this art is a gift from Goa to Maharashtra, albeit this may have happened a few centuries ago.
The elderly Chitaris have stories to tell how their ancestors migrated during the times of inquisition. “We were known for our art of drawing and painting in Goa. It was during the times of inquisition that our ancestors migrated from Bori-Shiroda, leaving their deities “ the Mahamaya and the Ravalnath back home, and travelled to a neighbouring region - Sawantwadi,” says Subhash Chitari, 70, who represents the eighth generation of Chitaris from Bori-Shiroda. He even has a record of the names of all his ancestors including the first person who left Goa centuries ago - Mukund Chitari. “Some of the Chitaris are still based in Goa “ in Demani-Cuncolim. They indulge in woodcraft and colouring,” he points out.
An expert in making wooden fruit sets and colouring Ganjifa cards, Subhash boasts that he did not learn the art in any school. He learnt from his parents as they learnt from theirs. It runs in the Chitari family. “Whichever Avatar it is of Vishnu, I draw the image mentally before drawing it physically,” he shares. While son Raghavendra runs their shop - Radhabai Wooden Art and Handicraft, Subhash enjoys carrying on the tedious woodcraft at their workshop.
“We, Chitaris are being given the privilege to colour the wooden palakhi, makhar, tarang, rupadi, tulsi vrundavan, chaurang, mandap etc of the deities in temples around Sawantwadi. The holy objects belonging to the deities are not touched by commoners, except the pujaris, but we are especially summoned and asked to colour them in the temple premises. The objects remain in our possession until our job is done.” says Subhash recalling the days when the family elders walked for miles or travelled by bullock carts with their colouring material to far off temples prior to festivals.
The past buries with it many things but not the memories which are carried forward. Subhash recalls the special type of wood required for the woodcraft. This wood is obtained from the Pangara tree and the process from identifying the tree, booking it and finally cutting it, is lengthy. “We identify and check the tree personally before purchasing but it is left uncut. It is only during Diwali that the Pangara tree is cut. Its broken logs are kept on a stony surface to dry. The reason, Pangara is a tree that never dies. If the logs are kept on soil they revive. The logs are stored in the open to let them season for a year, in summer and monsoon. It is only after that, that the wood becomes light weight,” he explains. Recalling that in the good old days this thorny tree was deliberately planted on the fences to protect the fields from animals, he laments that today Pangara tree is rare.
The logs are cut into smaller pieces and given shapes. The cracks and holes in the wood are filled with Shadu, a special soil. The strained powder of Shadu is mixed with water and rolled into balls that are sun-dried and stored for future use. While using a paste of tamarind seed powder is mixed in it to apply on the surface of the fruit in five layers before polishing it. The smooth fruit is ready to be coloured the next morning.
Primarily five colours of paint powder are used to mix and match with edible glue to make it strong. The ready handicrafts are stuck on wooden sticks to dry. A layer of lacquer gives a shine to the fruits. “We used to make natural lacquer manually by grinding stones and mixing with Shankhajira and apply it on the fruits with a cloth. But now touchwood has replaced it,” says Subhash who sells a set of 27 for Rs 1000. A bigger set of 60 pieces can cost up to Rs 5000.
There is lot of demand for these wooden handcrafted items but very few of the artists cling on to their traditional vocation. There are takers but handful of makers who still continue despite odds. The unavailability of the Pangara has led the artisans to replace it with sawdust or papier mache. Their requests to the forest department to grow more Pangara trees have fallen on deaf ears. This beautiful wood art that once flourished under the patronage of the late king of Sawantwadi is on the verge of dying, despite all efforts to revive it.
Sadly, the younger generation of Chitaris seems to be less interested in carrying forward their family legacy. Despite all these adversities Sawantwadi is still considered to be the largest market in India that offers exclusive wooden toys and efforts are on to give them a recognition as Geographical Index. The Chitaris fear that their wooden artefacts are going extinct, as machine-made wooden toys carrying the tags, ‘Made in China’ are flooding the Indian market.
