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Cane belong to palm family. It grows in the interior forest of north east and south of India. Cane is used whole or split into strips of uniform width and length. Cane furniture is extremely popular ? stools, sofa sets, center and side tables and screens and room dividers, coiled cane containers, fruit bowls etc.
Bamboo is a tall perennial grass found in the tropical and sub tropical regions. The bamboo culms are made into drinking glasses, beer mugs, salt and pepper containers, and bamboo vases, pencil holders and lampstands. A number of products are fabricated out of bamboo mats including hand held fans and teacosies are most popular. Storage baskets, shopping bags are some of the household utility things made from bamboo. A host of other small products like toys, spoons, smoking pipes, musical instruments like flute are also made.
In India, cane and bamboo have since ancient history given form to the expression of tribal art and provided them livelihood. Today it adorns the homes of the rich and elite and mud-houses alike. Many useful as well as decorative items are made out of these Baskets and mats are the most popular items in this category. Fishing contraptions are prepared of bamboo and cane, each with a distinct shape. One the most interesting and colorful item is bamboo and leaf-headgear for tea garden workers and farmers. Umbrella handles made of bamboo are a speciality of the northeast. A number of designs like leaves, plants and creepers are etched on them. A variety of furniture items are made to suit the modern homes.
Tripura is famous for its bamboo work, made from split bamboo, so finely done that they acquire an ivory look. The best-known places for basketry and mats are Assam and Bengal. Assam, a state with abundant raw materials, has a large variety of beautiful products like baskets, mugs for rice beer, hukkas, musical instruments, floor mats, fishing devices and handles. Baskets and mats from Bengal and Tripura look similar. Elegant screens made from split bamboo are a speciality in Tripura. Mizo baskets, made for storing rice, is woven with four long bamboo splints at the corners. Arunachal Pradesh excels in cane and bamboo work with bamboo bridges and cane belts.
Orissa has some outstanding items, like articles made from what is known as the golden grass. Manipur has unusual type of baskets, with dome shaped lid made out of bamboo. Tamil Nadu is famed for its kora grass mats. Extremely delicate, and indeed the most aristocratic of mats in the world, are made in Kerala. Square bamboo box made here is perfectly gorgeous with black and white design.
