Metal serving bowls from Gujarat.

A ‘vehicle’: a particular animal or bird with which the major Hindu deities are associated.

Mizo bamboo pipe.

Acorn cups of certain species of oak from South Europe, containing 25-35% of tannic acid.

Type of chisel used by craftsmen of Tirupati.

Oil lamp in Kerala.

Cloth.

Fast textile dyestuff which are insoluble in water but and have to be converted by chemically to be absorbed by the fabric. The dye has to form compounds soluble in Alkalis when reduced, that is when the oxygen is removed. In this state dyestuff is deposited on to the fibres in the dye vat and on contact with the air reverts to its insoluble, stable compound form. Indigo and shellfish or Tyrian purple are the only natural vat dyes. This class of dyes has a good all-round fastness properties.

Potash.

Dyestuffs obtained from naturally occurring plant material.

Fibrous plant materials which can be used for the construction of thread and felted fabric. See also abaca, bark-cloth, cotton, hemp, pina.

Creeper motif in the painted pottery of Kutch, Gujarat.

The name given by the Gracia Jats at Jura to an embroidery stitch peculiar to the Jats of Kutch, Gujarat.

A fabric characterised by a woven pile.

Bamboo or bamboo flute in Sanskrit.

Acetate of copper.

See Sable (ground).

Scorpion motif in the painted pottery of Kutch, Gujarat.

Buddhist monastery.

Combed.

Oil lamp, in Southern India.

A stringed instrument.

Maker of the universe and architect of the gods.

Annual propitiation of the deity Vishwakarma on the tenth day of the Dusshera festival. On this day all crafts persons worship their tools and implements.

Traditional motif of the patola sari.

Embroidery technique where areas of satin stitch are separated by a narrow strip of unworked fabric; a common feature of Chinese embroidery, also found in Swat and Indus Kohistan.

Thin semi-transparent woven fabric.

Ritualistic invocations through drawn signs and symbols; vow fulfilment through codified tantric symbolism.