• Anupam Chowdhury

Birbhum district, of West Bengal, has a significant number of terracotta temples from early age. Each temple has distinctive quality in terms of their design feature, compositional arrangement, and visual narrative. Interestingly, in Birbhum district, there are many craft traditions as well, such as – ceramics, textile, embroidery, batik, dokra-toy, leather craft and so on. These craft designs nowadays, are greatly influenced by the terracotta temple panel designs and narratives, because the design patterns and design approaches are embedded in the artistic practices of the artisans. In this study, some specific temples like - Surul, Supur and Itonda temple architectures have been observed in detail, so that the design can be understood clearly and their impact in the terracotta culture. After that, the available crafts in Birbhum have also been analyzed systematically in order to understand the relationship between the terracotta temple panels and the craft designs. The results of the study reveal that there are significant amount of convergences among these two different genres (terracotta panels and different crafts) in terms of design elements. The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of terracotta panel design on local crafts for the sustainable development of the existing craft traditions. It is observed that, if the crafts are made from the influences of the terracotta temple panel designs, the crafts become more aesthetically appealing and attractive.

Terracotta temple panel, craft design, sustainable development, tradition

"National myths and Shifting identities of Terracotta Temple Panels and its impact on various craft practice in Birbhum District, West Bengal", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 4, page no.f342-f348, April-2024, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2404538.pdf

"National myths and Shifting identities of Terracotta Temple Panels and its impact on various craft practice in Birbhum District, West Bengal", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 4, page no. ppf342-f348, April-2024, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2404538.pdf