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Terracotta Art of Bihar

Terracotta is the oldest craft that was introduced by humans and can be found in Bihar from time immemorial. No definite date can be stated for its emergence but is believed to find its way around 5000 B.C.The sculptures made out of this art are said to reflect the aspirations and interests of people of that time period.

It’s for sure that if you want to master this art then you need to have patience and creativity as creating terracotta products or sculptures has always been laborious. At first, you need to find dry and soft soil, crush and mix it well with cotton, paddy straw, or jute and then moistened it with water. After this, stitch it up with hands or feet. These bodies are then provided with more structure with the help of hands or chalks. Once these processes are completed the products or sculpture is then kept in sun or shade to dry. After a little drying, the products are given desired shapes with the help of a pointed tool or tapu. At this stage, the artist has full freedom of using his imagination as after this the figures are cooked in the furnace from where the final products come.

Today around 500 artisans are earning a livelihood from this art.

Much of the products made out of this art are sculptures, utensils, and toys. No doubt that over the period the art has evolved a lot. From the earliest time, the figures and the products made out of terracotta were considered important as they depicted the civilization, culture, and socio-economic life of a particular era. The art of terracotta or clay has an important role in history and much of the figures and their type have been excavated from Vaishali and other parts of Bihar. https://www.patnadiaries.com/category/blog/