Kanwaljit Kaur, BrarArsh Jyot Kaur2017-07-192017-07-192011http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810025628The present study was undertaken to document traditional paranda, a hair accessory and naala, a woven tape for lower garment used by the rural women in the Malwa region of Punjab. Three surveys conducted from samples of 180 rural women who had worn parandas or woven naalas and 30 shopkeepers selling these products selected randomly from Ludhiana, Patiala and Bathinda districts of Malwa region, indicated a sharp decline in the practice of invaluable traditional crafts of paranda and naala in these regions. None of the respondents in a wide range of age (25-95 yrs) was found to be weaving naalas during these days. Besides, only 48.89 per cent respondents were wearing parandas. Arbi gatth and jalebi were named after the knots used in tassels; sheeshe wala, jhumki zari, gatta ghungroo and moti parandas were named after the embellishments used in tassels. Paranda making techniques were known to only 4.45 per cent respondents. The craft of dori making for paranda was mainly practised by female artisans who were paid only `25-50 per dozen doris, while male artisans were paid `150 for preparing tassels of 40 doris in Patiala city, a hub of cultural handicrafts. Regular naalas for salwars were made by using both loom and finger weaving techniques. Fancy naalas for ghagras were made by loom weaving technique only. Cotton, tussar or acrylic fibres were used for both type of naalas. Warping was done on peerhi, nails or adda and loom weaving was done by using adda or manja. No equipment was used for finger weaving. Round and square harrarh were most popular amongst others such as double square, jalebi, gol gand, karela and spring harrarh. Motifs like dabbiyaan and murabbebandi in loom woven naalas, and gutt, burfi, and machhi motif in finger woven naalas were made by all the respondents. The shopkeepers were selling both remix and machine made (tape and battiyaan wale) naalas in Ludhiana, Patiala and Bathinda city. One remix naala took 36 times lesser work hours for finishing it in comparison to hand woven naala. Changes in lifestyle, fashion trends, lack of time and women education were identified as the major factors responsible for not making parandas these days. Diversification of the crafts, publication of design books, preservation of the craft in museum, publicising the crafts through exhibitions and other media, inclusion of these crafts in the school curriculum, organisation of cultural fairs and competitions, development of clusters of textile handicrafts, special awards for young artisans, organization of trainings and strengthening of handicraft boards may help in reviving these crafts of Punjab for the posterity.ennullThesis