Thatheras of jandiala Guru, Punjab

Domain:Traditional craftsmanship

State:

Description:

The video is a documentation of the traditional craft of making copper and brass utensils among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru in Punjab. This craft was inscribed on UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2014. The process of making utensils begins with the melting of brass and copper scraps in a large underground furnace.The molten metal then put in iron moulds and allowed to cool into metal nuggets. These nuggets are then unmoulded and rolled into flat plates using a mechanized roller. The Thatheras then hammer the metal plates into a curved shape. They give various shapes to the metal plates in order to produce utensils like pots. The seams are skillfully joined by hammering. Utensils are then polished with sand and tamarind juice and designs are made by hammering tiny dents into the heated metal.