Centre for traditional arts and crafts, Badagran, Manali

Abstract

A craft is a skill that involves making something in a skillful way by using your hands. The term is usually applied to people occupied in small-scale production ofgoods or their maintenance. The meaning of craft and its values are ever-changing with development of new techniques and methods. Centre for traditional arts and crafts will serve as an attractive spot for urban users and tourists, which also offers craft related activities and programmes. As it is located between Kullu and Manali, it is intended to boost the tourism in Badagran area, which will help in the slightly decrease in footfall of tourists in Manali, which is facing many environmental problems because of high tourist flow. It is intended to be a „must visit‟ tourist destination. In the crafts centre, visitors will learn about crafts of Himachal Pradesh through crafts demonstration and hand on interaction .Visitors can also attend various workshops related to crafts, which will help in the promotion of crafts among people outside the state. Beside this Himachal Pradesh is rich in traditional construction technologies. Kath-kuni, Dhajji- dewari, Dry stone construction, Kothi Baniyal, Thathara, and mud construction are the examples of the traditional architecture of the place. These construction technologies are widely appreciated and well documented due to their effectiveness in earthquakes. The centre will be featuring the modules of these typologies in the village complex. The project will be aiming to provide a platform for artisans to display their crafts, which will further help in promotion of these crafts and will boost the economy of the state. The project will opt traditional principles of construction and site planning to give more traditional appeal to the place.