Handicrafts

The crafts of Uttarakhand come straight from its forests and its mountains: dwarf-bamboo baskets, carved wooden doorways, hand-beaten copper vessels and the thick wool of the high valleys. Most were made for use, and the best of them are quietly beautiful.

Ringaal, a slender Himalayan dwarf bamboo, is split and woven into baskets, mats, grain stores and the ubiquitous doka carrying-basket. It is a craft of specific artisan communities and is still very much alive, now also turned into decorative ware for visitors.

Woodcarving is the grand craft of the old hill house. Carved kholi doorframes, window screens and temple beams, cut in deodar and walnut, turned the entrances of homes and shrines into showpieces, and the jagged patterns of old Garhwali and Kumaoni woodwork are unmistakable.

Almora is the home of tamta copperware, beaten by the Tamta community into gagar water pots, bhaddu cooking vessels and ritual ware. The high valleys give the third great craft: the Bhotiya weavers spin sheep and goat wool into thick carpets (dan), blankets (thulma) and pankhi shawls that are made to survive a Himalayan winter.