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Basketry
 Region
: Tamil Nadu
Type
: Folk Craft Form
Raw Material Used
: Palm, Bamboo, Cane, Grasses, Reeds And Fibers
Main Centres
: Dharampuri, Salem, Coimbatore, South Arcot And Tiruchirapalli Districts
Basketry is primarily a folk craft and whether in the hilly tracts of Tripura or in the jungles of Assam, Bengal, Bihar or Orissa or the uplands of the Nilgiris or Kerala, the inhabitants preserve their tradition of basket making to the present day. The valleys of Kashmir and the plains of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and many other parts of India also produce beautiful baskets.
Basket work is mainly of two kinds, coiled and plated. The former requires two elements, the coil or core and the sewing and wrapping strips, while the latter is made by crossing the warp and the weft, in chequered, twill intertwined or hexagonal work.
Tamil Nadu is known for its cane weaving and palm leaf products, including trays, flower baskets, shopping bags, folding fans and toys. Kerala offers a variety of baskets of screw pine leaves and kora grasses.
Like basketry, mat weaving is also an ancient craft in India. Mats of different sizes and patterns are made throughout the country. Assam and West Bengal make mats with mader grass in chequer board, spiral, diagonal and zig zag designs, sometimes weaving in human and animal forms.
Sitalpati mats of Cachar district of Assam are particularly famous.
Tamil Nadu is known for its cane weaving and palm leaf products, including trays, flower baskets, shopping bags, folding fans etc. Toys and dolls are also produced from grass, bamboo and cane.
The Kora grass mats produced in the village of Pattamadai in Tirunelveli are very famous. Kora grass, which grows in abundance locally along the banks of the rivers in marshy areas is the material used for making fine
Pattamadai mats.
Raw Materials
 While palm is a major source of raw material for basketry and related products, bamboo, cane, grasses, reeds and fibres are also used in making baskets, ropes, mats and many other items.
Types Of Basketwork
Basketwork is mainly of two kinds, coiled and plated. The former requires two elements, the coil or core and the sewing and wrapping strips, while the latter is made by crossing the warp and the weft, in chequered, twill intertwined or hexagonal work.
Main Centres
The main centres of these crafts are Dharampuri, Salem, Coimbatore, South Arcot and Tiruchirapalli districts. The demand for Tamil Nadu's artistically created basketry and fibre products is on the increase both in India and abroad.
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