Brightly coloured shellac bangles patterned in silver, often with embedded mirror pieces, are part of celebrations in Awadh. From wedding ceremonies to sāwan (monsoon) observances,
shahānē kī cūṛiyān/kaṛē are ordered, purchased and gifted to family and friends.
Shahanas (shellac bangles) (2022/2023) by BanoLucknow Bioscope
The bangles are made by skilled women artisans at their home in Lucknow and Kakori, but the material is sourced from Surat, Kanpur and Firozabad. The raw material, capṛā (shellac) is extremely soft and its quality has to be ensured.
Shahanas (shellac bangles) (2022/2023) by BanoLucknow Bioscope
Some of the shellac is placed in a clay pot with burning wood/coals and melted with imlī colour which turns it orange. Hot shellac is rolled out to a certain thickness, and then wrapped around a cylindrical wooden block called sail that shapes the bangle. Generally, three such bangles are heated using a sirāq and joined to make a broad bracelet on the sail using a thāpī to flatten it, such that the diameter on one side is slightly larger than the other.
While still warm and soft, the bracelet is decorated with coloured foil (pannī), thin strips of silver foil and small mirror pieces. The work requires sitting close to the hot clay pot and is thus easier to do during the winter months.
Shahānās are delicate and have to be stored carefully in the hot summer so as to prevent them from getting misshapen.
Only two shahānē kārīgars remain. Mina in Lucknow and her sister-in-law Bano in Kakori are the only ones practicing the craft learnt from their families. They are the fourth generation of shahānē craftspersons, and most likely its last practitioners.
Old families in Lucknow, Kakori, Barabanki and surrounding areas patronize the artisans, but rising costs of the raw material and the consequent higher price of the bracelets is taking it out of the reach of local women who once wore them with pleasure.
In this video, Bano takes us through the process of making shahane bangles
Curation: Noor Khan & Saman Habib
Photography: Ayan Bose, Tasveer Hasan
Team: Nagma Ehtesham, Nasreen Khan, Mariyam Imran, Saman Habib, Noor Khan
Text, Editing and Translation: Saman Habib, Noor Khan, Sabiha Anwar, Isha Priya Singh, Waseem Ahmed,Stuti Mishra, Divya Joshi
Video: Aisha Khatoon
Gracious Contribution by: Bano (Kakori)
