Article Name Traditions of The Indian Crafts-
men
Author Stella Kramrisch
Publisher University of Illinois Press
Place of Publishing Illinois, Chicago
1958
Year of Publishing
The Principle, Silpa, Brahma,
Key Concepts
Consciousness, Heirarchy,
Kala, Hereditary, Tradition,
Vishwakarma, Patrons
ancient traditions, architect,
Keywords
diagram, caste, hereditary,
bond, contract, principle,
sudras, kala, skill, apprentice-
ship, crafts, society, concen-
tration, patron
Summary
The ancient generation of craftsmen treated their work as sacred and performed many rituals and maintained the quality by following a set of
rules. Many ancient traditions have been explained in this article, mostly examples of the architect performing rites for creating monuments and
sacred artwork in the name of God.
The Tradition embraces the life of the whole community, each according to his place and station in life. The craftsman is involved with his own
people more deeply than common interests or a sphere of cooperative living. The range of the crafts extends over the entire culture and com-
prises the work of the wheelwright and the sculptor, of potter and perfumer, weaver and architect. The number of the arts is unlimited, but they
are summed up under sixty-four major headings.
The crafts were hereditary, or the succession by apprenticeship and adoption, for skill is not inherited. The members of a craft share their tradi-
tional occupation and the belief in a common origin or mythical ancestor. While the subdivision of the hereditary crafts is on the basis of differ-
ences in methods employed, ethnic considerations and social ambitions produced improvement or deterioration in the caste status of the crafts-
man. he myth-a form of awareness of the descent of the craftsmen from the Principle has its counterpart in the myth of the fall of the craftsmen
from the Principle two categories of the lowering of level are taken into consideration. The first accounts for the descent of the Principle to the
order of the Sudras. This is accepted; for the Sudras were experts in their art. The second category, however, applies to the moral and artistic
defection from the Principle. This defection is limited to architects, painter-sculptor, and goldsmiths, the arts which demand the
highest intellectual, imaginative and technical skills. Before a craftsman takes up his tools for any particular assignment, the ax, the
line, the hammer, and all the other instruments are worshipped with incense, flowers and unhusked rice, for they are that extension of the crafts-
man's hand by which he reaches beyond the ranges of his limited human person. All the work is done in a secluded place, with self-control and
concentration (Matsya Purana).
We are acquainted with the rite of initiation of one major and comprehensive art, that of architecture. The initiation of the architect consisted of
the drawing and knowledge of a symbolic diagram which is a site-plan and ground plan.The aim of initiation in general, and the architect’s
initiation in particular, is a waking up of the latent possibilities of the being so that he rises above individual concerns and takes part in the plan
of the Great Architect of the Universe. Each craft has an initiation imparted through the idiom of that craft.
At all times, and in villages to this day, the craftsman was an organic element of Society. He was either a member of a village community or if he
lived in a city, he Was a member of a guild of merchant craftsmen living in their own streets and quarters, or else he was a feudal servant of a
king, nobleman, or head of a religious order. The craftsmen, other than those of the village community which was self-sufficient,
were organized in guilds( sreni ). In order to give back to Visvakarma, they took up work that would serve as something dedicated to God, what-
ever his name. The king was said to be the foremost patron of the arts; sometimes, there were artists among the kings as well.
The transfer of the merit from the artist to the patron is also done ritually, in a tradition where the art finally becomes that of the patron, offered
by the artist. The bond of the work with the maker is severed when he is offered a sort of remuneration by the patron. If both of them are of the
same caste, the bond still exists and the transfer remains incomplete. The author elaborates on the qualities other than technical competence
required by the craftsman, in this case, an architect. Along with the craftsman, the guru’s status is also required to be of high value in the commu-
nity. Their collaboration is said to commence once the ground where they are to work is ploughed. The distinction is made. Between the crafts-
men and the laborers, though unskilled manual labor itself, when it was for a sacred purpose, was performed by members of all castes from the
highest,
downward.
Tanya Saini
TD UG20
S2000037
Craft Doc Orientation