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Of all the
handicrafts of Orissa the most unique and the finest, in fact the
queen among them, is silver filigree, locally called tarakasi. The craft
is localised at Cuttack town and a few villages in Cuttack district. The
process consists of drawing silver through a series of consecutively
smaller holes to produce fine strands of wire. These wires are then made
into various shapes by deft hands of the craftsmen by bending them into
different designs and soldering them with pincer and scissors. Silver used
by the artisans is usually of high purity often
exceeding ninety per cent.
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Items manufactured cover a wide range though they can be broadly
divided into a few categories. First, we have the ornaments for the ladies
which include necklaces, brooches, ear pendants, anklets, hair pins,
decorative key rings and bangles etc. We also have a few ornamental items
for men like tie pins and cufflinks. Next we have the decorative items
like boats or boita, replicas of temples, horses, elephants and other
animals and chariots besides a variety of other items. Lastly, we have
utility items like plates, cups, bowls, glasses mascara containers,
indigenous spoon called belas for feeding milk to young children, incense
containers, vermilion containers and ladies handbags. Though the above
lists are fairly comprehensive they do not indicate the myriad varieties
one can find for each item.
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The silver filigree and other silver items have, like other
handicrafts, a very important socio-cultural function. The child's first
solid food, usually a sweet dish of rice, kheer, is served in a silver
bowl and the elder specially grand-parents take pride in presenting the
silver bowl for this function known as anna prasana. Like brass and bell
metal items the bride is also usually presented a set of silver dishes
which is reserved for offering food to the deities during religious
festivals. Many temples have a set of silver ornaments for the presiding
deities including silver crowns which are used on ceremonial occasions.
Silver filigree has been an important export items of Orissa from ancient
times and has been a symbol of the dizzy heights of excellence reached by
Orissa's craftsmen.
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