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About The Sikki

The Art of Sikki Craft: A Cultural Heritage of Bihar

Sikki Grass, an integral part of the cultural heritage of Northern Bihar, particularly the Mithila region, has now found its place as a widely practiced craft throughout the state of Bihar. Its distinctive golden hue has earned it the moniker "Golden Grass."

This remarkable grass thrives in the lush, marshy landscapes near rivers and ponds. The process begins with the careful harvesting of Sikki Grass from these fields, followed by sun-drying to ensure its optimal condition. While drying, precautions are taken to protect it from the elements and potential pests like rats.

Once dried, Sikki Grass transforms into a versatile material used to craft a wide array of products. To enhance its visual appeal, it can be colored with various dyes, departing from its natural golden shade. These dyes may come in shades of red, green, yellow, and more.

In the crafting process, another grass called "munj" plays a crucial role. Munj reinforces the core, edges, and overall structural integrity of the product. To further bolster the structure, some artisans incorporate steel into the framework alongside bamboo, achieving a harmonious blend of tradition and modernity.

This artistry not only preserves the rich cultural heritage of Bihar but also showcases the resilience and adaptability of Sikki Craft in the contemporary world.

Tools

The main tool used for making the products is a 5-6 inches long needle-shaped iron object with a rounded head for grip is called Takua. The women also use a very thin knife (choori) for splitting and scissors (kaichi) for cutting the sikki. At times they also use their teeth for splitting sikki grass.

To make the sikki grass usable, it is first cut from near its base and then dried for somedays. Since the flowering part of the stem of sikki is not used for crafts making, it is discarded and the remaining portion of the sikki is sliced and shaved with the help a of knife or by teeth. The natural golden coloured grass is used as it is, but is also dyed in various colour dyes. There are some primary colours available in the market, like: Yellow dye name – Auromin,
Aqua Blue dye name – Methiline Blue
Fuschia dye name – Rodamine
Orange dye name – Crysodine
Brown dye name – Acr. Brown
Violet dye name – Violet
Grey dye name – Grey, and a few others.
All other colours (like – Blue, Red, Lime Aqua, Green, Black and more) are formed by mixing these dyes in various proportions.
These colours have been clearly standardised and documented and catalogued by the Jiyo design intervention.
Presently, the artisans are working with 18 such colours.

The Process:

Before use, sikki is wet lightly to make it more pliable as it is coiled around the munj. The colouring is achieved by boiling the sikki in different colours. Now the main form is shaped with munj or khar (other type of grass) to provide the basic shape and additional strength to the sikki product. Due to its abundance, generally munj is used for coiling purpose in Maithili region of Bihar.
The process if making the products is primarily done through Coiling.
A bundle of munj grass is taken, which is then completely covered with Sikki in such a way that the munj is not visible at all. Then as the sikki wrapped munj is wound in a spiral coil the sikki grass is used to attach two adjacent layers of the coil.

USAGE OF THE TAKUA:

The takua is inserted to create a gap among the tightly woven coil to create a small gap through which the leading tip of the grass is inserted and pulled from the other end. The takua is used carefully because it can also cut sikki if the artisan is not careful. The product being made is held firmly with the left hand while the right hand is completely free to wield the takua.