Nabarangpur Artisans Prepare Lac Boxes For Upcoming Hockey World Cup

Nabarangpur: Handicrafts from Nabarangpur district of Odisha will find a place in the 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar to be held in next month. The state government has decided to present the famous lac boxes from the tribal district to the guests and players.

The tribal-dominated backward district of Nabarangpur has gained international fame for its traditional lac handicrafts.

Artisans of Sankarisahi have started making wooden painted boxes and doing cane and bamboo work. They are coating lac on those boxes also.

The artisans have been asked to make over 700 lac boxes for the event.

Lac artisan Shanti Kumari Patra said, “I have learned lac work from my mother and grandmother. My daughters have also learnt the work from me. My daughters help me in design work. I melt the lac and make threads out of it. I am very happy by receiving this order.”

Lac artisan Kalicharan Patra said, “We are very happy that through this order, we can promote our lac work at the international level.”

At least 30 families of Sankarisahi are earning their livelihood through lac work.

Nabarangpur MLA Monahar Randhari said, “It is good news that through this order, lac work as well as our district can be promoted at the international level. The players and the guests can see the creativity of our artisans. We are proud of it.”