Metal Miniature Creepy Crawlies of Rajasthan

Issue #002, Monsoon, 2019                                                                      ISSN: 2581- 9410 Tucked away into a remote corner of Rajasthan is a colony of Gaduliya Lohars, who’ve been living there for over 100 years now. Nomads by choice, most of the members of the Gaduliya Lohar tribe still travel and refuse to settle down in one place. However, some, like Hazari Lal’s family, have settled on the outskirts of cities, towns and villages. The Gaduliya Lohar tribe was once famous for making armours and weapons for the Rajput Kings. They belong to Chittorgarh and as the story goes, became nomads when Maharana Pratap lost the battle of Haldi Ghati in 1567. They remained loyal to him and followed him into the forest where he fled. After his death they vowed to never settle down and not return to their homeland till the Maharana’s regained control of Mewar. They wandered across India and made a living by making agricultural implements, tools and household tools of exceptional quality. Today like many other handicrafts m odern India has little place for their handmade implements and tools. As a result the very identity of this tribe is at stake. Hazari Lal Lohar is one of the few in his community to take the skills of blacksmith to a level where it becomes a delicate art.Using the bare minimum of tools he handcrafts insects the size of your finger nail from scarps of iron. He...