Basket
Basket is commonly used as container and widely used among the Indians to serve various purposes.

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BasketBasket is one of the very oldest items that have been created by the Indian artisans who create baskets of different sizes and fine designs.

Preparing basket includes creating Bambi Mask mats which are the most popular items in this category. Some baskets are used for decorative purposes as well as satisfy household necessities. Apart from these uses, baskets They are also used for different purposes, such as containers for crops and other house-hold goods and packages for carrying luggage and merchandise. There are other kinds of baskets that bear symbolic expression and having numerous engravings.

Baskets are made of all shapes and sizes from the rough little simple designs manufactured in a few minute into a complicated pattern. There are baskets which are conical in shape, while others are in cylindrical with the mouth slightly wider than the base. Conical carrying baskets, `akhi` and `akha` are common. The baskets are so closely woven as to be practically water-tight. The tribal people like Bhotiyas, from the Trans-Himalayan region are skilled in bamboo artisans. The artisans of this tribal area make excusive baskets that have gained local popularity and have now found an export market as well. Not only the tribals but also the non-tribals have now has taken up basket making as a profession. The designs are generally simple plain weave or ribbed.

One of the most widely used baskets is `Dukula` or `Tukuri`. This type of basket is a big in size and is exactly the same as that of the `Khorahi` which is used for washing rice, vegetables, fish, etc. The required shape of a `tukuri` is made by bending the bamboo splits forming the warp gradually when the process of weaving with the weft is in operation. The edges of `tukuri` are strengthened by fixing two or four flat bamboo strips. The final touch of making `tukuri` needs to stitch the edge along with those flat bamboo strips with some flexible cane slips. `Dukula` or a `tukuri` is used for carrying as well as keeping paddy, rice, etc.

The baskets serve utilitarian purposes and used as decorative pieces as well. The artisans incorporate modern trends and created baskets of different sizes and shapes so that they can suit in the fashionable home décor. Apart from these, at present times, baskets are used in restaurants and `dhabas` to serve food.


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