The tradition of bamboo craft in Samdrup Jongkhar’s Wangphu Gewog is slowly declining due to the easy availability of imported goods. Moreover, residents said the younger generations are not interested in learning the art. Today, only a few elderly people continue to weave bamboo products.
Among the few villagers who still weave bamboo products, is 70-year-old Sonam. These days, he is making bamboo hats and threshing baskets.
He said that they have been weaving the items for their personal use.
In Wangphu, the art of weaving bamboo has been passed down through generations.
However, Sonam is worried because the younger generations are not interested in learning the art.
“I used to weave more when I was young. But I switched to making bamboo crafts last year. Nowadays, youth are not interested in learning it.”
Like him, a few other villagers also continue to make bamboo products on a small scale.
Karma, a villager said “I make milk churners from bamboo. I was able to sell a few but people now prefer imported milk churners and no longer use bamboo milk churners.”
Sangay, another villager said “Earlier, our forefathers used to make bamboo crafts. But now it is rarely seen. The tradition of making bamboo crafts has declined here. I think it is very important to preserve our age-old tradition.”
Meanwhile, Wangphu Mangmi said the gewog administration has been encouraging villagers to preserve the art of making bamboo products.
For now, the elderly people can only hope that the tradition of bamboo crafting will not be lost in the march of time.
Kinley Wangchuk, Samdrup Jongkhar
Edited by Tshering Zam
