The Art of Sholapith: Crafting Ethereal Beauty from the Spongewood of Bengal

Introduction

‘Baro mashe tero parbon’
-A popular Bengali proverb that translates to ‘ thirteen festivals in twelve months.

Rooted in its tradition of recurring festivals, Bengal’s culture celebrates the arrival of new seasons wrapped in ceremony and joy. Indeed, across successive generations, Bengal’s festivals have been at the heart of its tradition, bringing together art and creativity. Amidst the rhythmic beats, floating notes, and intricate decorations, every ritual is marked by storytelling and cultural expression. Thus, festivities have shaped much of Bengal’s heritage, influencing artforms and craftsmanship.

Shola Craft has long been an integral part of Bengali rituals, used in the making of crowns, floral motifs, ornaments, as well as other essential items of ceremonial worship. Derived from shola piths, shola craft has emerged as one of the most celebrated art forms of Bengal, adding to the aesthetic quality of ceremonial items as well as home decor.

The Herbal Origin of Shola Craft

Spanning across the districts of Bardhaman, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Alipurduar, Bankura, Malda, Nadia, Hooghly, and South 24 Parganas, the Shola Craft is an essential agro-based industry. Yet, its origin can be traced back to the soft stems of Aeschynomene aspera, colloquially called the shola pith. It is a sub-floating hydrophyte, occurring in abundance across the swampy marshlands in Bengal. Owing to its heavy modulation in both stems and roots, Aeschynomene aspera has high nitrogen content. This adds to its eco-friendly characteristic, transforming it into a preferable source material for the craft.

 

 

Unfortunately, over time, the Aeschynomene aspera has made an unsettling entry into the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the IUCN.

The Crafting Process of Shola Pith

The process of transforming shola pith into decorative craft items is an elaborate process, involving several careful stages.

• Initially, the plants are uprooted and left to dry until the stems turn brown.
• Then, the outer brown layer is removed, revealing the soft white core, which is well-suited for carving.
• Then, the core is sliced into multiple thin sections and dried thoroughly.
• Once dried, these slices are shaped into decorative pieces and assembled using adhesives.

The Hands that Shape the Shola Craft

At the heart of the shola craft tradition lie communities whose cultural identities are closely tied to this delicate artform. The livelihoods of two communities are interwoven in the creation of shola products- one harvests the plant and the other crafts the items. The first community belongs to the Scheduled Caste category of the Indian Constitution. As residents of marshlands, their daily routine is often marked by challenges, including dwelling in waterlogged regions, harvesting plants, and selling them in local markets.

The Malakar community is engaged in the creation of Shola crafts, shaping intricate designs and ornaments. The word ‘Malakar‘ translates to ‘the maker of garlands’, determining the professional fate of the community. Thus, rooted in ancestral inheritance, the shola artform has been passed down over successive generations in the Malakar community.

The Malakar community believes in their descent from divinity. According to the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, the first Malakar was the progeny of Lord Vishwakarma, the Hindu God of handicraft and manufacturing. In earlier times, the Malakar community had a reputable position in society. However, with the progress of time and changing market trends, they’re often seen struggling to make both ends meet.

Ceremonial Headgears in Shola Art

Rooted in Bengal’s culture of art and handicraft, shola craft emerges as a necessity in Bengali marriages. From flower motifs as items of decoration to the bride’s mukut and bridegroom’s topor, shola craft has always assumed prime importance in wedding ceremonies.

Crafted delicately from Shola, the topor is a conical white headgear worn by the bridegroom during marriage. Yet, the making of topor is an intricate process carried out in multiple stages. Interestingly, it is an entirely hand-crafted process as a delicate texture of shola wood prevents its attachment to any holding devices.

1. At first, the artist creates a cone layout on a cardboard sheet before extracting it via a pair of scissors.
2. Then, this shape is slowly rolled into a cone, putting together the ends using an adhesive. As a result, the cone is ready to bear shola decorations over its surface.
3. Traditionally, the topor carries circular or semi-circular decorations due to the pliability of the raw materials utilized in the process.
4. Then, the circular shola wood is carved into rectangular sections with jagged edges.
5. Eventually, these thin portions are pasted to the outer section of the cone using adhesives.
6. Once the shapes are stuck properly, the topor is decorated with stones, glass pieces, lurex yarns etc.
7. Finally, the topor is decorated with various types of motifs and glitter beads before packaging it for the market.

In the Indian market, the topor made of shola wood costs between Rs. 300 to Rs. 600, depending upon its quality and designs.

The Sholar Saaj in Durga Iconography

At the heart of Bengali tradition and religious life, the Durga Puja marks a cultural cornerstone of Bengali identity. In the much-awaited months of October, the streets light up with decorations, and the state dances to the floating beats of Dhak and music. Despite the grandeur of the occasion that draws tourists from distant lands, Bengal’s indigenous shola craft remains an integral presence.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Durga Puja was celebrated in the homes of zamindars and aristocrats of Bengal. Traditionally, the two main types of adornment or saaj were the sholar saaj and the daaker saaj. Sholar saaj was believed to be a form of eco-friendly jewelry, thus being used to adorn the Durga idols.

Hence, the artisans crafted dazzling white crowns or mukut, earrings (karnik), necklaces (haar), and other necessary ornaments, assembled together into the complete set of sholar saaj for the goddess.

However, the popularity of sholar saaj has slowly waned in the face of machine-made decorations. These alternatives are often cost-effective, appealing to the general mass. Thus, the once celebrated sholar saaj is almost at the verge of decline as several shola shilpis have shifted to other forms of livelihood to sustain their living.

Conclusion

Despite the emerging threats of machine-made substitutes and cost-effective population, shola craft continues to be a significant section of Bengal’s handicraft industry. Owing to its gentle, snow-white elegance, shola craft is a testament to Bengal’s age-old heritage of skilled craftsmanship. From the elaborate sholar saaj and pristine conical topors to the intricate floral motifs and chaandmalas, the stories of fine craftsmanship of the Malakar community linger on every item of shola craft. Thus, to uphold shola craft is to safeguard the radiant artistry that defines Bengal’s luminous cultural legacy.

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