Author(s): Dr. Reena Aggarwal

Abstract:
Traditional craft is often associated with intangible heritage. Behind each crafted object lie stories on how a particular culture has lived and flourished depicting their rich heritage. Traditional heritage is a living body of knowledge that is developed, sustained and passed on from generation to generation within a community, often forming part of its cultural or spiritual identity. Banjaras in Maharashtra is famous for making exquisite embroidery that reflects their cultural values, regional sensibilities, beliefs and identity. Banjara embroidery is a poem in multicolor, written with needle having long, rich and complex history with indigenous design vocabularies. Though this craft has its own origin and distinction with rich embroidery work, no attempt has been made so far in an organized manner to preserve the craft and for establishing arts and crafts centers as has been done for other traditional communities in India. This study thus focuses on documenting the lesser known craft of embroidery as done by Banjara people of Maharashtra before it gets extinct or completely forgotten.