Odisha’s tribal craft Tumba gets a makeover as gourds turn into lamps, bowls, jewellery and more

Pratima Madangi, a Kondh tribal, is engrossed in carving, chiselling, polishing and painting hollowed and dried shells of ‘Tumba’ or bottle gourd. She works at the Prerana Art and Craft (PAC) centre at Karubai village adjacent to the Rayagada district headquarters in Odisha. Over the next few days, she will turn the gourd shells into sustainable and eco-friendly utilitarian and decorative products. 

Once she finishes all the dried gourds, she will start collecting cut pieces of hard shells for the next round of creating Tumba rings, earrings, necklaces, and other items.

“I was trained by our master trainer Himanshu Shekhar Pandia. I have been working in PAC for two years and earn Rs 7000 monthly. It supplements the meagre and erratic income of my father, a marginal farmer,” says Pratima. 

“As each Tumba has a unique shape and size, our handcrafted pieces are also unique,” she adds.  

The traditional tribal craft

Tribals, mostly from the Kondh community, use two types of gourd or lau. While soft and pulpy poppy lau is meant for consumption, dried ones with hard shells called Tumba in tribal parlance are used as containers for water, alcoholic beverages like tadi (palm wine) and mandia jau (millet broth), other foods, and native seed for use in the next season. Besides, they are used to handcraft Ektara, a traditional musical instrument.

While Tumba has been an integral part of tribals’ lives for ages, Himanshu’s PAC has contemporized the craft by adding newer products, improving the designs and training tribal as well as non-tribal people to expand its artisan base.

Tribals believe that if the peels of laus are rubbed on cuts and bruises, they soon heal. The pulp inside a lau works as a curative for gastric problems.

Also Read: Katul: The craft beer of Odisha’s Kutia Kondh tribe  

Considered auspicious by tribals, Tumba is offered as a gift to a daughter during her marriage. It is even placed on the pyre of the deceased.

“We keep Tumbas on our thatched rooftops because of their auspiciousness,” says Pandu Kadrak of Kumbhkota village.

“Though hard shells are used in our craft, they are not as hard as the Shisham wood. They are softwood. So they are biodegradable and eco-friendly. They are also water-proof and pest-resistant,” says PAC Director Himanshu, an alumnus of JJ School of Art, Mumbai. 

Dried Tumbas are collected, hollowed from the top, cleaned with water, and then scrubbed with sandpaper.

“They are soaked in water overnight and then sundried for five to six days before use,” says PAC artisan Sumitra Mandangi who lives in the nearby village of Pipalaguda. 

For decorating the Tumba shells, artisans use natural colours prepared from leaves and flowers. Acrylic colours are used only when the pieces have several joints that cannot be hidden using natural colours.

Also Read: This consultant quit her job to recycle coconut shells; empowers artisans and women

Contemporizing Tumba

However, Tumba is not yet under the ambit of the state directorate of handicrafts. “It is not in our list of 50 approved crafts for promotion and employment creation.  The office of Development Commissioner (Handicraft) under the Union Government promotes it,” says Assistant Director (Handicraft) Lulumba Singh Dharua, Rayagada. 

Himanshu, who was originally an artificial bonsai artisan, switched over to Tumba craft in 2002 and mastered it in 2020 when it drew the attention of the Development Commissioner - Handicraft. Himanshu says he has trained over 200 tribal and non-tribal people under the aegis of DC (Handicraft). Out of them 11 are now working with him.

 “We trained the young artisans under Himanshu for 56 days during my tenure in the Bhubaneswar unit of DC (Handicraft),” says Ashok Kumar Hota, the former director of the Bhubaneswar unit who retired about four months ago. 

“The recognition accorded to the artisans by DC (Handicraft) has enabled them to have their identity cards which qualify them to avail of the facilities provided by the Union Government including artist pension. The Union Government even provides tool kits and the raw materials necessary for the craft,” Hota adds.

Also Read: This Assam entrepreneur is taking Sarthebari bell metal products to the world; giving artisans a new identity

The business of Tumba 

Led by Himanshu, artisans move from village to village to collect dry Tumbas every four days a week during winter and summer, says artisan Anita Kadraka of Palama village. 

“We purchase about 300 Tumbas per day. The price of each Tumba depends upon its size. While a small Tumba costs around Rs 10, the price of bigger ones can go up to Rs60,” she says. 

The average monthly production of different decorative and utility items like flower pots, table lamps, spoons, and cups designed by artisans is worth over Rs 1 lakh, while their sale proceeds exceed Rs 1.5 lakh monthly. The products sell like hotcakes in urban areas of Odisha including Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. They are also sent to Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

“The minimum price of one item like a Tumba ring is about Rs 50, while that of a swan family is Rs 33000,” says Himanshu.

While rain is the lean season for sale, it shoots up during winter and summer when craft pieces are showcased at exhibitions. State government agencies like Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS) and the Department of Mission Shakti and DC (Handicraft) also provide platforms for sale at different exhibitions within and outside the state. 

Also Read: Odisha’s all-women group brands traditional drink ‘Tankapaani’ as Bou; plans to sell 50 lakh litres during Ratha Yatra

“We provide travelling allowance and daily allowance to two artisans of a group that takes part in an exhibition. The number of groups is determined by the authorities that organise the exhibition. ORMAS also bears the charges incurred on transportation,” says Manoj Patra, the deputy chief executive officer of the Rayagada unit of ORMAS.

When asked whether agencies like ORMAS have taken any steps to export Tumba craft to other countries, Manoj says, “We don’t have an export license. However, some private agencies export the products to countries like Brazil and the US.” 

The boom in Tumba craft has boosted gourd farming in tribal-dominated villages. Earlier, tribals were not focused on its cultivation. The success of the Tumba craft has prompted many farmers to grow it in the adjoining forest land. 

“I grow lau in about 0.5 acre of nearby jungle area and sell over 75 pieces to PAC between February and March, the harvest time. This fetches me about Rs 5000,” says Tamana Kadraka, a marginal farmer of village Palama. 

(Niroj Ranjan Misra a Cuttack-based freelance writer. He writes on rural and tribal life, social issues, art and culture, and sports)

Also Read: How this Odisha artisan created modern straw craft using paddy waste

Look up our YouTube channel