SHOLAPITH : The Exquisite wood craft of Bengal

                  

Shola - pith or sholapith an Exquisite wooden craft from Bengal where ‘shola dried milky-white spongey plant matter from Aeschynomene {Biological name}  species a part of plant matter also known as Indian white cork is pressed and crafted into different delicate decorative items. The origin of this craft is quite unknown as it finds its mention in different mythological stories too. A famous story states that Lord shiva on his way to marry goddess Parvati asked Vishwakarma to create a white crown for him which he failed to deliver, Shiva then created a man who made a headgear and garland for the lord with shola a part of wood, lord then named him as Malakar or a garland maker. Even today the craftsmen from Bengal carry the name of Malakar.

 Shola grows in waterlogged marshy areas of Bengal, Assam, Orissa and  Deccan. Widely practised by the artisans of Bengal one can easily spot this craft of sholapith in any Bengali wedding where the delicately designed headgear or topor for bride and bridegroom is used. Apart from this shola is used to create artistic and décor items, accessories for gods and goddesses mostly to be found in the puja pandals in Navratri Durga puja. Similar to modern foam or thermacol in look shola pith is more popular due to its biodegradable quality. The eco-friendly sholapith is also crafted today in different décor items like the elephant, peacock, boat, Modern jewellery, fashion and a lot more exporting to foreign countries. The loss of marshy wetlands where the plant grows is another problem affecting the art-form but efforts to save the wetlands are been taken. From Replacing the ivory in ivory carving at times to create puppets and miniatures to being a vital part in decorations from puja pandals to Jagannath puri temples since the 11^th century the rare and exquisite craft of sholapith is being experimented and tried into several new creations by different organisations and artists in their own way. still playing a vital role of topor (headgear) at weddings to decorating the puja pandals, jewellery, or fashion shows this wooden marvel still continues to live in the heart of Bengal in every possible way.

Image credits: Shola Craft | Facebook