Shantiniketan Leather Bags from Amar Kutir Bolpur

Amar Kutir Bolpur: How it Started

Amar Kutir was once place of refuge for activists involved in independence movements. Today the scene is different; it has a big cooperative society for rural development. This place is at a distance of 15kms from Shantiniketan, but Rabindranath Tagore is no way associated with this place. Somehow the tag of Shantiniketan made the products popular.

Amar Kutir (my cottage) was set up by Sushen Mukherjee in 1927. Sushen believed that one’s first and foremost purpose of life should be “to free yourself from the bondage of foreign rule”. While he had many young followers ready to fight against British and who were most often in hiding, Sushen was worried about how they would maintain their day to day living. So it was here at Amar Kutir, he established the rudiments of cottage industry.

Raw materials, sheets of leather being sorted out.
Making the leather bags at Shantiniketan Amar Kutir

Making the leather bags at Shantiniketan Amar Kutir Bolpur

Women in Amar Kutir

Women in Amar Kutir

Shantiniketan Leather Bags

What started as an initiative for self sustenance turned into full fledged industry offering employment to many! I visited the unit producing Shantiniketan leather bags and other goods.

There are approximately 65 experts in the unit, each person assigned with a particular job. The raw material passed from one expert’s hand to the next and then next till it came out finally as a jhola bag/ sling bag, beautiful pouch or key chain, or hand bag, may be even as pencil box or lipstick holder etc.

Leather pouches machine stitched

Leather pouches machine stitched

For cloring the leather pieces they follow the touch dyeing process. The dye they use is vegetable dye, yet years of working with these dyes changed the color of the skin of this lady’s fingers. They have turned white.

I asked her if it was painful, she said there was no pain or numbness, only the color of the skin had changed. Some of them were using finger caps made of rubber. Observe carefully, you will see the finger caps in her right hand.

Leather colored by Touch Dyeing process

Beautiful leather pouches from Amar Kutir

Showroom at Amar Kutir

They have a beautiful showroom stuffed with various products. The other units there are the Kantha stitch products, needle craft unit, shola and lac crafts units. The products beautiful and all are reasonably priced. I was happy to visit the place, talk to the locals there and came back happy with some of their stuffs.

Amar Kutir showroom

Amar Kutir showroom

 

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Handicrafts Souvenirs from Shantiniketan Bolpur

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