BASKETRY
Basketry is a traditional occupation of Malai Kuruvar domiciled at Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu. In Malai Kuruvar society, both women and men are engaged in basketry. Earlier people used to collect bamboos from forest but now they buy it from market. For weaving the bamboo sticks first they are vertically cut into pieces. These pieces are sprinkled with water and dried and then splitted into 3 pieces, called “Thapai”. Colour bars are dissolved in a bucket of hot water. Thappais are dipped into water and then dried. After Thappai process, the basket weaving starts. The base of basket is known as “Adipodal”. Some bamboo reepa are arranged one upon another in a circular way and a knot is made in the middle. Then Thappais are interlaced on the base. The weaving of upper portion is known as “Meleluputhal” and final part is “Vaimudipu”.
Following are the different kinds of basket :-
1) Kanji Koodai (rice basket)
2) Kaikari Koodai (vegetable basket) ht 15cm
3) Prasadha Koodai (for pooja items)
4) Kooparai Koodai (round disk to cover water containers)
Following are the different kinds of basket :-
1) Kanji Koodai (rice basket)
2) Kaikari Koodai (vegetable basket) ht 15cm
3) Prasadha Koodai (for pooja items)
4) Kooparai Koodai (round disk to cover water containers)