Art of Sustainability: Banana Leaf and Sal Leaf

With the concept of sustainability dominating our everyday lives, an increasing number of Indian artists are gravitating toward eco-friendly art forms and techniques. They are now open to experimenting with anything and everything that can preserve the earth, from homemade, organic colours to art displays produced from recycled waste.

It is widely known in India that forest-dwelling scheduled tribes have lived on their ancestral grounds since time immemorial. They are essential to the forest eco-systems survival and long-term viability. The most intriguing part of the tribal economy is that, while agriculture is important to the tribal community, it is not their exclusive source of income. Forest gathering is also an important part of their economy, and it is considered a significant activity among tribals. Dry leaf collection is a common habit among the Santhal and Ho tribes of eastern India. 

They not only harvest these leaves but also build beautiful plates and bowls out of them, which have a long history in tribal art and culture. These dry leaves are often available in the jungle and provide a valuable source of money for tribals. These low-cost commodities may be harvested throughout all year and provide a consistent source of revenue for the tribals in this area. Such tribal arts were once quite popular, but as a result of modernization and urbanisation, they are progressively becoming obsolete.

However, we must revive this tradition because these materials are incredibly eco-friendly, simple to use, a beautiful piece of art for urban dwellers, and, most importantly, they may be an important source of subsistence for tribal economies.

The Art of Banana Leaf Folding and Painting

For holidays, people fold banana leaves into colorful decorations. The leaves are folded in delicate, triangular, and intricate patterns before being offered to Lord Buddha at the temple. 

Banana leaf paintings are not composed entirely of banana leaves. It's constructed from banana tree bark strips, but banana trees aren't like the other plants we're familiar with. Like an onion, its trunk is tiered. Villagers peel banana tree strips, which come in a variety of color depending on the banana tree's age and type. The colors would shift if an artist let the banana strips dry. The color is then permanently preserved by curing it. They'd painstakingly paint with the various colored stripes. The process of creating a banana leaf artwork takes time, and the artists are dedicated to their work.

Folding banana leaves is a technique that is passed down through the generations. Banana leaf art is taught at a variety of institutions and colleges to both young and old people, as this art form is considered academically important.

Importance of Sal

Sal can be found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, and China's woods. Sal trees are widespread in the forests of Assam, Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Haryana's Shivalik hills, Eastern Ghats, Eastern Vindhya, and central India's Satpura. Jharkhand's sal forest is said to be the world's largest sal forest.

Sal is commonly utilized in temples and ceremonies as plates and cups for eating meals, as caulking for boats, and as fuel for lamps. Sal trunks are resistant to rot and are utilized for both firewood and household furnishings. To make edible oil, sal seeds are used. Sal tree leaves can also be used as plates. These sal leaves are collected and stitched into plates and cups by the indigenous people.

Many sal leaf plate and cup-producing groups can be found in India, primarily in the states of Bengal, Orissa, and Jharkhand. The sal leaves are harvested and sold to traders. The traders stitch and press them, package them into bundles, and distribute them around the country. State governments have created processing facilities through tribal marketing organisations in some regions but on a minimal scale. Food is served on sal leaf plates and bowls in temples, hotels, weddings, and other ceremonies. Sal leaf plates and bowls are in high demand not just in India but also in other nations because they are eco-friendly.

Economic, Socio-Cultural, and Environmental Value 

In today’s society, sal or banana leaf plates are quite valuable. Furthermore, it provides a good source of revenue for indigenous people. It also aids the indigenous people in reviving their traditional culture and knowledge. These things are extremely eco-friendly, and they even help to sustain the native forest habitat.

The household obtains "value-added" revenue in addition to the worth of the raw inputs when they sell the finished product. Some households engage in value-added activities such as making plates and bowls out of sal/banana leaves or creating sustainable art. The fundamental constraint of such "value-added" production is that it is labour-intensive and requires traditional skill training. As a result, such production has a high traditional and social value. Hand-processed plates are sold to merchants, who then resell them to hundreds of plate producers across India. In Eastern India, the estimated yearly turnover of this industry is Rs. 70-80 million.

India also revealed that among the indigenous people, the craft of gathering leaves from the forest in various seasons, knowledge of drying leaves, and the ability to stitch leaves into plate and bowl shapes are passed down from generation to generation. Such expertise and skill assist the indigenous community in generating significant cash income. The indigenous people engaging in these types of activities earn significantly more money every month than villages that do not rely on forest resource collecting or plate and bowl production. As a result, it is crucial to note that collecting leaves from the forest and using them to make plates and bowls is a significant source of income for the indigenous people.

Disposable plates and bowls are commonly used for serving food and are usually seen during festivals and weddings. These plates and bowls are environmentally friendly, chemical-free, biodegradable, and hygienic. They have no artificial odour and are quite light in weight. These products have a very natural and appealing appearance. As a result, sal-leaf plates have far superior attributes to the present disposable plates on the market, which are made of plastic, thermocol, and paper. Plastic and thermocol plates are not biodegradable, and therefore harm the environment. Paper plates, on the other hand, are biodegradable, but they destroy trees, which is also bad for the environment.

The Forgotten Art

The way people live nowadays has changed massively. People's social characteristics have changed as a result of their migration from rural to big cities in pursuit of new economic opportunities. In modern cities, people live in houses with insufficient yard space to grow trees, as they did in villages. In town, few homes have banana, sal, or coconut trees in their yards. As a result, some alterations are made to compensate for the lack of supplies, such as switching from a type of leaf to wax-coated paper or aluminium foil as the wrapping material. 

The modern way of living seems to have an impact on eating habits as well as the preparation procedure. Instead of being grilled, lemang (traditional food made from glutinous rice, coconut milk, and salt, cooked in a hollowed bamboo tube coated with banana leaves to prevent the rice from sticking to the bamboo) is now cooked over the stove in stainless steel cylinders. Further, there are rivalries or competition from the new commercial plastic-based food packaging manufacturing. The majority of nasi lemak (it is a rice dish commonly served with roasted nuts, egg, Ikan Bilis or anchovies, and slices of cucumber) now comes in polystyrene containers. Wrapping Dodol in [oil-based polymer] plastic. Lopes and lemang are wrapped in aluminium foil. As a result, much of traditional art has faded with time and is on the verge of extinction. 

Traditional food packing, particularly those made from leaves and other plant parts, is biodegradable. Bags, plates, cutlery, and bowls produced from materials that decompose naturally are the result of research and development in the sector.

With the concept of sustainability dominating our everyday lives, an increasing number of Indian artists are gravitating toward eco-friendly art forms and techniques. They are now open to experimenting with anything and everything that can preserve the earth, from homemade, organic colours to art displays produced from recycled waste.

It is widely known in India that forest-dwelling scheduled tribes have lived on their ancestral grounds since time immemorial. They are essential to the forest eco-systems survival and long-term viability. The most intriguing part of the tribal economy is that, while agriculture is important to the tribal community, it is not their exclusive source of income. Forest gathering is also an important part of their economy, and it is considered a significant activity among tribals. Dry leaf collection is a common habit among the Santhal and Ho tribes of eastern India. 

They not only harvest these leaves but also build beautiful plates and bowls out of them, which have a long history in tribal art and culture. These dry leaves are often available in the jungle and provide a valuable source of money for tribals. These low-cost commodities may be harvested throughout all year and provide a consistent source of revenue for the tribals in this area. Such tribal arts were once quite popular, but as a result of modernization and urbanisation, they are progressively becoming obsolete.

However, we must revive this tradition because these materials are incredibly eco-friendly, simple to use, a beautiful piece of art for urban dwellers, and, most importantly, they may be an important source of subsistence for tribal economies.

The Art of Banana Leaf Folding and Painting

For holidays, people fold banana leaves into colorful decorations. The leaves are folded in delicate, triangular, and intricate patterns before being offered to Lord Buddha at the temple. 

Banana leaf paintings are not composed entirely of banana leaves. It's constructed from banana tree bark strips, but banana trees aren't like the other plants we're familiar with. Like an onion, its trunk is tiered. Villagers peel banana tree strips, which come in a variety of color depending on the banana tree's age and type. The colors would shift if an artist let the banana strips dry. The color is then permanently preserved by curing it. They'd painstakingly paint with the various colored stripes. The process of creating a banana leaf artwork takes time, and the artists are dedicated to their work.

Folding banana leaves is a technique that is passed down through the generations. Banana leaf art is taught at a variety of institutions and colleges to both young and old people, as this art form is considered academically important.

Importance of Sal

Sal can be found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, and China's woods. Sal trees are widespread in the forests of Assam, Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Haryana's Shivalik hills, Eastern Ghats, Eastern Vindhya, and central India's Satpura. Jharkhand's sal forest is said to be the world's largest sal forest.

Sal is commonly utilized in temples and ceremonies as plates and cups for eating meals, as caulking for boats, and as fuel for lamps. Sal trunks are resistant to rot and are utilized for both firewood and household furnishings. To make edible oil, sal seeds are used. Sal tree leaves can also be used as plates. These sal leaves are collected and stitched into plates and cups by the indigenous people.

Many sal leaf plate and cup-producing groups can be found in India, primarily in the states of Bengal, Orissa, and Jharkhand. The sal leaves are harvested and sold to traders. The traders stitch and press them, package them into bundles, and distribute them around the country. State governments have created processing facilities through tribal marketing organisations in some regions but on a minimal scale. Food is served on sal leaf plates and bowls in temples, hotels, weddings, and other ceremonies. Sal leaf plates and bowls are in high demand not just in India but also in other nations because they are eco-friendly.

Economic, Socio-Cultural, and Environmental Value 

In today’s society, sal or banana leaf plates are quite valuable. Furthermore, it provides a good source of revenue for indigenous people. It also aids the indigenous people in reviving their traditional culture and knowledge. These things are extremely eco-friendly, and they even help to sustain the native forest habitat.

The household obtains "value-added" revenue in addition to the worth of the raw inputs when they sell the finished product. Some households engage in value-added activities such as making plates and bowls out of sal/banana leaves or creating sustainable art. The fundamental constraint of such "value-added" production is that it is labour-intensive and requires traditional skill training. As a result, such production has a high traditional and social value. Hand-processed plates are sold to merchants, who then resell them to hundreds of plate producers across India. In Eastern India, the estimated yearly turnover of this industry is Rs. 70-80 million.

India also revealed that among the indigenous people, the craft of gathering leaves from the forest in various seasons, knowledge of drying leaves, and the ability to stitch leaves into plate and bowl shapes are passed down from generation to generation. Such expertise and skill assist the indigenous community in generating significant cash income. The indigenous people engaging in these types of activities earn significantly more money every month than villages that do not rely on forest resource collecting or plate and bowl production. As a result, it is crucial to note that collecting leaves from the forest and using them to make plates and bowls is a significant source of income for the indigenous people.

Disposable plates and bowls are commonly used for serving food and are usually seen during festivals and weddings. These plates and bowls are environmentally friendly, chemical-free, biodegradable, and hygienic. They have no artificial odour and are quite light in weight. These products have a very natural and appealing appearance. As a result, sal-leaf plates have far superior attributes to the present disposable plates on the market, which are made of plastic, thermocol, and paper. Plastic and thermocol plates are not biodegradable, and therefore harm the environment. Paper plates, on the other hand, are biodegradable, but they destroy trees, which is also bad for the environment.

The Forgotten Art

The way people live nowadays has changed massively. People's social characteristics have changed as a result of their migration from rural to big cities in pursuit of new economic opportunities. In modern cities, people live in houses with insufficient yard space to grow trees, as they did in villages. In town, few homes have banana, sal, or coconut trees in their yards. As a result, some alterations are made to compensate for the lack of supplies, such as switching from a type of leaf to wax-coated paper or aluminium foil as the wrapping material. 

The modern way of living seems to have an impact on eating habits as well as the preparation procedure. Instead of being grilled, lemang (traditional food made from glutinous rice, coconut milk, and salt, cooked in a hollowed bamboo tube coated with banana leaves to prevent the rice from sticking to the bamboo) is now cooked over the stove in stainless steel cylinders. Further, there are rivalries or competition from the new commercial plastic-based food packaging manufacturing. The majority of nasi lemak (it is a rice dish commonly served with roasted nuts, egg, Ikan Bilis or anchovies, and slices of cucumber) now comes in polystyrene containers. Wrapping Dodol in [oil-based polymer] plastic. Lopes and lemang are wrapped in aluminium foil. As a result, much of traditional art has faded with time and is on the verge of extinction. 

Traditional food packing, particularly those made from leaves and other plant parts, is biodegradable. Bags, plates, cutlery, and bowls produced from materials that decompose naturally are the result of research and development in the sector.