Sholapith

Shola-pith is a kind of very light pithy reed found in the marsh lands of Eastern India. The Craftsmen or ‘malakars’ work with their special iron knives or ‘kath’ to fashion intricate objects out of it.
Apart from toys and images, big and small, some shola-pith craftsmen also create items that form an intergral part of most of the major religious rituals – mainly in the form of ‘sholar saaj’ – which is the ornamentation and decoration for sacred images. This is a natural product and decorative flowers made of it are a popular item. Prices are low, especially for the smaller decoratives, and production rate is high.