Bastar:
Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, which is predominantly tribal, has a strong art, craft and musical tradition which has been dented by the violence of the last two decades. The culture which reflected adivasi identity and a way of life is now under threat.
In the last few decades, outsiders discovered the hidden resources and minerals of Bastar's forests, the timber, iron ore and coal. The conflict over resources has forced the adivasi way of life to change, affecting their art and expression.
Internationally known craftsman, Jaidev Baghel, followed his family occupation and became a sculptor. He began making bronze sculptures as a child in Kondagaon village in Bastar, casting figures of deities, spirits, birds and everyday objects, in the lost wax technique. These were exchanged for grain and livestock.
Baghel explains that traditionally the forest provided raw material for the adivasis' craft. But when the Naxal movement took roots and security in the region increased, freedom of the villagers was restricted. Artisans had no land, this was their only occupation, so they had to move to towns to find new markets for their art and craft and buy raw materials.
Craftsmen began producing everything from ashtrays and candle stands to larger than life animal figures. It earned them good money but now only a few people like Baghel continue to create and train others in making objects rooted in adivasi culture.
More than a decade ago, Jaidev Bhagel had sculpted a six-foot-high Mahua tree as a sign of protest against the destruction of Bastar's forests. For adivasis it is the tree of life, which since the beginning of time, has provided them with food, shade and income. The sculpture was bought by the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai and installed on the sixth floor under the dome of the building.
In the 26/11 terrorist strike, the sixth floor of the hotel was gutted. But as a note from the management said, "This symbolic tree withstood the attack and stands immortalized".