Author(s): Dr. Reena Aggarwal

Abstract:
Traditional craft is often associated with intangible heritage. Behind each crafted object lie stories on how a particular culture has lived and flourished depicting their rich heritage. Traditional heritage is a living body of knowledge that is developed, sustained and passed on from generation to generation within a community, often forming part of its cultural or spiritual identity. Developed from experience gained over the centuries, traditional knowledge of making a craft tends to be collectively owned and transformed as society changes. Solapur in Maharashtra is famous for making Wall hangings that reflects its cultural values, regional sensibilities, beliefs and identity and also helps to preserve many different communities. Solapur wall hanging is a poem in multicolor, written with the warp and weft having long, rich and complex history with indigenous design vocabularies made by the artisans of the Padmasali community. The wall hanging weaving of Solapur has remained unaltered since years from being very basic and monochrome having landscapes and portraits catering only to local market to becoming a potential family income generation tool. This study focuses on the documenting the lesser known craft of Wall hanging from Solapur, Maharashtra before it gets extinct or completely forgotten.