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Waning crafts: Poor prices, lack of resources
View(s):Pix and text by Mahesh Keerthiratna
The ‘sesath’ manufacturing crafting industry is slowly fading away due to a series of issues faced by craftsmen, residents of Matale, Yatawatta Unaweruwa village who engage in crafting sesath lamented.
‘Sesath’ a traditional ceremonial item, symbolising royalty, prestige, and spiritual protection, is a circular structure
Villagers engaged in the industry said the art of crafting the traditional Lankan item is unique to one province.
According to them, in the past people called it “aw athu” and was later known as sesath. According to history, when Sangamiththa Thero arrived in Sri Lanka with the Sri Maha Bodi sapling, she had been accompanied by craftsmen who knew 18 varieties of crafts. A group of those craftsmen who settled in that village had engaged in the crafting of sesath.
The sesatha has a long history; it was used by kings, nobles, and Buddhist monks as a sun shade. It was also used as a symbol of royalty, prestige, and spiritual protection – therefore noblemen used to have it in their homes as a symbol of prosperity.
However, the 50 families in the village who depend on crafting sesath are facing difficulty in continuing their craft due to a lack of fair prices for handcrafted sesath, as well as a shortage of material to fashion the sesath.
Craftsman Gamini Wijesuriya said that their sesath are bought by people for very low prices, who sell them in Colombo and suburban areas for high prices. He added that government programmes to develop the industry had not made an impact.
A lack of graphite too had created issues. Villagers are not given a license when obtaining and transporting graphite making it difficult for them to continue in the industry, they said.
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