Design Resource
Bamboo Basket - Mysore, Karnataka
Eco-Friendly Basket
by
Prof. Bibhudutta Baraland Sowmya B. N.
Introduction
Mysore is the third-largest city after the state capital of Bangalore and Hubli in Karnataka, India. It is also called sandalwood city. The city of Mysore attracts tourists because of historical palaces, including the great Tipu sultan's palaces in Srirangapattanam. It is also famous for the beautiful Vrindavan Garden. Bamboo has a very long history with humankind. Mysore is a center for mass production for traditional and new design bamboo craft items. Due to advances in processing technology, It has a great demand in industrial applications. As it grows abundantly and is an eco-friendly item, it is widely used for household products. It has superior physical and mechanical properties compared to most wood species hence used as an alternative to wood—the history of using Bamboo for making crafts dated back to the centuries-old. A wide range of species of Bamboo is found in India. Therefore, artisans can create a variety of utility articles. Bamboo strips are not only used in utility products but also in decorative products. A bamboo basket is one among them. A basket is made of a thin bamboo stripe.
Thousands of artisans earn their daily bread and butter by producing a wide variety of bamboo products. Bamboo baskets, boxes, chairs, handbags, mats, winnow, etc., are examples of bamboo products. In southern India, Bamboo craft is trendily emerging for its durable quality, lightweight, and for its leisurely handling. There are different types of baskets with varying varieties of weaving patterns is practiced in Mysore. The bamboo baskets are made by using the weaving process. Bamboo strips are soaked in water to make the Bamboo softer for the bending and weaving process. Weaving is not the only method of joining, but a unique process of bamboo handcraft that represents the particular material properties and the highly developed techniques of artisans.
On the one hand, the weaving techniques represent the high flexibility and multi-facility of the material bamboo and on the highly developed techniques of the craftsman. Artisan Mr. Najundayya is making bamboo baskets since his childhood. Basketry is his family business in Mysore. The time required for making one product is a minimum of two or three hours.
