Historical Tradition and Socio-cultural Transformation of the Malakar Community in Rural Bengal, India

Abstract

Handicraft plays a very important role in representing the culture and traditions of any community. Indian handicrafts are highly eco-friendly, labour intensive, unorganized household sector, with huge potential for employment generation and foreign exchange earnings and practised extensively in the rural areas. Based on this background and field observations, this study aims to investigate the historical tradition, society, and livelihood transformation of the Malakar community in rural Bengal. This study made use of data gathered through field interviews and phone calls in rural Bengal. And data were calculated in both quantitative and qualitative ways. Key findings show that sholapith is a culturally significant eco-friendly craft that is part of the Hindu Community's historical heritage. And it will be the future scope of huge uses of any ceremony’s decoration and it fulfils the lives, livelihood, and societal identity of the 'Malakar' community. Socio-economically, the maker of the craft was not suitably developed in the aspects of income and other social things. According to this study, the Malakar community's cultural identity has been transformed and will decline in the future due to the transformation of traditional livelihoods. So, the historical-cultural community of Malakar and their inherited cultural works need to be developed and brought to more people's attention.