VARANASI: Deen Dayal Hastkala Sankul, a trade facilitation centre for handicrafts, greeted distinguished guests from France - French President
Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigittee Marie-Claude accompanied by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi showcasing exquisite traditional crafts on Monday.
They were greeted amid the recital of shehnai and presentation of Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas-based play 'Chitrakoot' at the centre. Besides watching handicrafts, exotic artifacts and culture of the millennia old city, they also saw the live demonstration of some selected crafts. The artisans gave demonstration of goods, mostly the Geographical Indication (GI) certified products of the region like Banarasi Gulabi Meenakari (Pink Enameling), wooden craft, Banaras metal repouse craft, Nizamabad black clay pottery, glass beads, Mirzapuri handmade punja durry, Zardozi, soft stone undercut work, Handloom and handmade carpet.
While two girls Tarannum and Afsana were showing the intricacies of Zardozi art, Tarun Kumar demonstrated the pink enameling art work, Dharmaraj showed wooden toy making and Abhay Kumar presented soft stone undercut work. Besides, other artisans including Pyarelal Maurya (Mirzapuri punja durry), Sanjay Kumar (Banaras Metal Repouse Craft), Sarita Devi (Nizamabad black clay pottery) and Nandlal Jaiswal (Glass beads) also showed their mastery on the crafts.
Deen Dayal Hastkala Sankul was dedicated to the nation by the PM in September 2017 to help the artisans and weavers showcase their skills to the world, and facilitate a brighter future for them. He had laid foundation stone of the centre at Bada Lalpur on November 7, 2014. "The French president's visit would boost the local craft to make its way to European markets through France," said a GI expert Rajani Kant of Human Welfare Association, who was present during the visit. According to him, alone in eastern UP approximately 1.5 million people are involved in handicraft and weaving sector. About 26% handicraft items come from UP, which is the highest in the country.
The Finance Ministry in the Budget 2014-15 had announced setting up of a Trade Facilitation Centre and a Crafts Museum to develop and promote handlooms, handicrafts and silk products of Varanasi and provide necessary help to weavers, artisans and entrepreneurs in strengthening their marketing activities in domestic as well as international markets and in carrying forward the rich tradition of handlooms at Varanasi.
The Sankul aims at facilitating the weavers/artisans/exporters in promotion of handlooms/handicrafts in both domestic and international markets. The Crafts Museum in the Sankul preserves the traditional handloom/handicrafts products of Varanasi and showcases the handloom and handicraft products. It consists of five blocks -marts-cum-office, convention hall-cum-exhibition, food court-cum-guest house, shopping arcade and crafts museum.
