Shaping Bamboo

Clutch purses in dyed and plain bamboo are inexpensive handy gifts.

In time, bamboo straws could replace all the plastic drinking straws in the world. Tripura has enthusiastic suppliers of such eco-friendly items.

Drinking straws in bamboo are supplied in fresh green bamboo or dried yellow-shaded bamboo colours.

The hollow portion of a bamboo suitable for straws has to be chosen from among those whose central hollow openings are large enough.

Bamboo containers that have been made of lathe-turned bamboo for a good finish are used to serve lemonade with bamboo straws on a bamboo tray, all perfectly co-ordinated.

A variety of designs in bamboo trays are both hospitable, aesthetic and sustain traditional craft livelihoods in backward areas.

This typical steaming box made of coiled and woven bamboo strips serves a lot of societies who still cook and eat traditional foods in India right up to the Far East.

A bamboo laundry basket in a bamboo homestay.

A desk and chair in bamboo is for school children.

The pergola in the bamboo village complex shows how simply comfort in the garden can be achieved with simple slats of bamboo.

The inner roofing of the bamboo pergola has a pleasing decorative effect

Bamboo strips give a textured finish that suits the bamboo village environment and keeps the house cool as well.

Lathe-turned bamboo rods are made into plant containers that decorate a wall of a bamboo garden.

A lifeguard’s lookout on the beach is becoming a popular feature at attractive tourist beach resorts designated as having ergonomically sound development policies.

Edgings of pieces that are made of wood and bamboo have fine detailing such as wrapping fine strips of bamboo to give the edge a contemporary finish.

Even the hen has a comfortable bamboo home to lay and hatch her eggs

Rolled up decorative floor mats and wastepaper baskets are light, ergonomically appropriate and its use in homes and workspaces sustain many rural livelihoods.

The introduction of a single colour into a natural bamboo weave creates an attractive fruit basket.

Flutes and many other traditional musical instruments are made of bamboo.

Here they lie casually inside a nest of coloured baskets.

A bamboo shopping basket hangs casually on a bamboo rod waiting to be sold in the basket weaver’s home.

Small strips of bamboo are not wasted. They are made into desk top items and serve as simple souvenirs.

Bamboo trays from Tripura made good office trays, gift boxes or serving platters.

Coloured bamboo baskets from Tripura are set against a lightly white-washed wall of woven bamboo.

A basket, as with every craft in India, is a piece of utility that is also a work of art.

A set of colour coordinated baskets suits customers during festive occasions when clothes, sweets and jewelry are items for gifting in different sized baskets like these.

A customer in another part of India who has a retail store selling quality chocolates has given the basket weaver a standing order to supply as many different kinds of baskets he can produce.

There are baskets tumbling out of every shelf in the vast collection at Manoj Debnath’s workplace and store house.

Each is a one-of-a-kind sample, a left-over piece from an old order. Each has a beauty of its own.

A cornucopia of baskets in every kind of colour, weave and design are made in Tripura.

Manoj Debnath, weaver and wholesaler of bamboo baskets in Tripura.

Read more about bamboo craft from Tripura here:
-Environment
-Process