Colors of Village Nirona, Kutch

Kachchh, the land which has risen out of the ocean, its people traversing the back of the celestial tortoise. So goes the folk myth regarding this land of multitudinous people with their distinctive inter-related yet different culture, craft and way of life. This culturally diverse intermingling has led to the development of a strong and a varied crafts tradition based on the precepts of utility and beauty. As Kachchh goes through a modern change signaling the growth of urban settlements the craft forms are also gradually evolving and going beyond the concepts of utility and becoming themselves objects of art. Each village is a discovery of treasure in itself with its interlinked colorfully diverse crafts people. The village of Nirona on the way to Banni is one such place. Recently while traipsing through Bhuj and Kala Raksha in Sumrasar, one decided to detour to Nirona which I had not visited in some time.

Nirona is a dusty village off the road linking Bhuj to Khawda. Over the years it has achieved a status of being termed a craft village. Nirona is blessed with having a variety of master craftsmen practicing their trade and honing it to an art form.

As one enters the village and veers left at the water tank one is greeted with this smiling aspect called Husain bhai who then proceeds to lead us vide dusty alleys to his living cum work space. Husain is a metallurgist, a traditional maker of cow bells. Iron bells enameled in copper and bronze, so many shapes and sizes, emitting melodies which are soft yet carry sonorously through the desert air. Bell making as a craft form is still practiced not only in Nirona but in Zura, Bhuj and Nakhtrana. Husain’s son, wife and daughter in law all dexterously assist the master craftsman. With the surety arising from years of experience, he takes a metal plate, using the most rudimentary of tools and bends it in a cylindrical shape dovetailing the edges. While he readies the furnace, his wife begins applying copper and bronze slivers mixed in mud paste on the metal cast of the bell. He then proceeds to bake the mud cake bell while he lovingly stokes the flames. Meanwhile the sound of the furnace is drowned out by the tympani of cascading bells in a variety of shapes and sizes which Husain’s son has brought out to show. While the three are thus at work, Husain’s daughter in law sits demurely in a corner intricately generating a tie and dye pattern on fabric. The musical crescendo signals a phoenix like birth of a new bell emerging from mud and fire.


Such a cacophony of bells, shapes and sizes, triangles and cylinders, flattened ovoid, tinkly small and large base drones; it’s a veritable tintinabulistic symphony punctuated by bell shaped xylophones. Husain bhai also fashions a folk musical instrument known as the morchang, akin to the Jews harp of Eastern Europe.

So bells are purchased and bells are rung and it is time to leave, winding ones way to the next community. These are the Vadhas, whose skill lies in coating wooden implements and toys with lacquer in a psychedelic variation of hues. This semi nomadic community harvests the lac resin from the trees, mixing it with different kinds of minerals and pigments to generate a vast array of colorful shades. These are then meticulously applied to a mixed batch of kitchen implements, toys and small utility items. The craftsmen use hand operated lathes to shape the wood, slash in indentations and the artistical application of colored lacquer in zigzag patterns defying geometric parameters.

While looking at this visual treat we were surrounded by children of all shapes and sizes who were carrying the most exquisite rag dolls wearing little trinkets. The men in the community held the magic of color creativity in their hands while the sharp, confident women exuded it through their chunky jewelry and intensely embroidered costumes.

A simple triangulation from the bell makers house to the houses of lac would bring us within the realm of Roghan. A neat hand painted sign board indicates the dwelling of Gafur bhai, the master craftsman. Roghan is a traditional textile art form involving painting on fabric. The art of Roghan originated in Syria and is practiced through Peshawar, Lahore, Sindh and Kutch. The color and paste used in Roghan painting is a gelatinous extract of safflower and castor oil blended with pigments rolled into a ball and preserved in earthen bowls of water to maintain consistency. The color making process itself is time consuming and involves great skill. A snake like sliver of color paste is rolled on to a stylus and hand applied to dyed cotton fabric making intricate patterns.

Our all too brief visit to Nirona was slowly winding its end signaling a time for us to depart. Nirona is a classic example of an ‘ideal crafts village’ wherein each community is an integral part of the whole.

Published:Ahmedabad Mirror