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Grafik Charikot - Dolakha: Economy
Traditional Crafts & Technologies
Milk Products Forest Products
Weaving Photo Gallery
Regional Maps VDC Map
Economy around Charikot
Traditional Crafts & Technologies Milk Products
Forest Products Grafik
Photo Gallery Regional Maps
VDC Map Grafik

Traditional Crafts & Technologies

Despite its ecological problems, our area still abounds with birds. You will find them especially on the two forest ranges We have included this section to introduce you to sorne of our traditional crafts. At the outset we must stress, however, that you are visiting a poor area visiting which produces little "artistic' crafts such as elaborate pottery or metalwares.This fact may partly be due to the absence of valuable raw materials such as good clay (there are no kiln-fired bricks here) or iron ores (actuallly there were a few iron mines in this area, for instance in Thosé, but, the manufacture of arms there ceased, apparently for political reasons).

Thus our blacksmiths still practise their ancient village technology which is sufficient for the needs of a traditional agriculture, but which has not developed into a more elaborate but which has not metal industry involving casting (for instance, household metalwares or hammering of hollow water jar called 'gaagri'). Other crafts declined with the inflow of modern industrial goods.

For instance, village tanning was not able to compete with leather from large scale tanneries, and the shoe-makers were not only facing raw material problems in their villages but also the demand for their crafts shifted to non leather footwear such as PVC sandals or tennis shoes.

lf a few crafts are an the decline, we also find a large number of mainly utilitarian products which are being manufactured either the farmers themselves or by specialists from what is called the occupational castes such blacksmith (kami), tailors (damai) and cobblers (sarki).

Epecially in more remote villages without road access the agicultural production system is to a very large extent one of subsistence if not self-sufficiency.

Accordingly, you will find that most household items and agricultural tools are manufactured in the village itself and out of local raw materials (except for metalware or cotton cloths). ln this way, all the needs of a rural society may be satisfied with admirably adequate technologies, including shelter, food conservation, and clothing those techniques developed for agricultural activities.

ln terms of artstic crafts, the first place, should go to the Tanka painters from the Lisankhu area as well as from a few other locations along the road to Kharidhunga and ffand south of the river-crossing at Busti. Tankas are oil or water-colour paintings with motifs from the Buddhist or Hindu religions. The ones in our region are Tamang Tankas which are characterized by Buddhist tantric motifs. In the same village of Lisankhu we also find the mask carvers (mokundo) whose products find a ready market in Kathmandu.

From the soapstone available around Kharidhunga idols and other artworks are carved and if are lucky you might find some for saIe along the road there.

Among the utilitarian crafts we have choosen three fields, milk preservation techniques, forest products, and weaving, where interesting crafts are widely in use and which you might encounter on your trek.

Charikot - Dolakha (Dolkha) Galleries
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