BANGLE MAKING IN FIROZABAD

Firozabad is a city in Uttar Pradesh. This industry employs almost two million people in India. It is the biggest glass industry center where different types of products are made with great accuracy and precision. The glass products include:

•Glass Bangles;

•Glass art wares (toys, candle stand, Gods and Goddess);

•Glass domestic wares (glasses, dinner sets);

•Glass beads (accessories, jewelry)

AIM

The aim of this dissertation report is to study the art and culture of ‘Bangle Making’ and the technology they used to bring out a piece of art which is known as “Choori”.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this dissertation is to study the methodology and process, art and craft, which includes to understand the scenario of bangle making and how its belongs to the people of Firozabad and how it’s affects its culture, traditions, values and scientifically i.e. environmentally or ecofriendly. Few Objective are as follow,

To promote the art of bangle making as it is important and beneficial for the Indian society to protect the diversity culture and heritage.

To support the artists and worker, and help them to improve their working method and technology.

To protect the bangles making art from extinction.

METHODOLOGY

Methodology is divided into two parts, primary and secondary.

Primary source of information are:

• Case study

• Site study

• Interview

Secondary source of information are:

• Website and blogs

• Photographs

SCOPE OF STUDY

Firozabad is the largest producer of glass bangles in the world.

The tradition of bangle making in Firozabad provides a great opportunity to the people of the city to work in their hometown, and for me to know the culture of diverse India and know about the art and craft of bangle making from its making to its decoration. Also one I am become closely witness of the marvellous art which lies behind the bangle making inside the factory and thus truly making Firozabad “The Glass City of India”.

INTRODUCTION

Firozabad is a city of Uttar Pradesh, INDIA, also known as the Glass City of INDIA. Firozabad is 40km away from Agra in eastern direction and 240 km away from Delhi in S-E direction. It was built by Firoz Shah Tuglaq, the ancient name of this town was Chandwar Nagar. It is said that during reign of Akbar revenue was brought through the city, which was looted by the RAJPOOT who lived her. The Tomb of Firoz Shah is still present here on whom the name of the city derived. Whom sent by Akbar in his army led by him to make the city a cantonment to improvement of this place and for the people who lived here, from early time since before 1857.

This industry employs almost two million people in India. It is the biggest Glass Industry Centre where different types of products are made with great accuracy and precision. The glass products include:

•Glass Bangles;

•Glass art wares (Toys, Candle stand, Gods and Goddess);

•Glass domestic wares (glasses, dinner sets);

•Glass beads (accessories, jewelry)

Firozabad is 300 old glass industry of India. It started when the glass articles rejected by the courts of ruler and was sent to a furnace called a “Bhatti”. In this furnace, wood was used as a fuel. During that time only small bottles and bangles were made. At this time only one bangle at a time can be made. In this bangle there was no joint. Since then Firozabad is the home of the glass industry, white and coloured glass pieces being manufactured for the purpose of assembling Jhad and Fanus (chandeliers) which were in demand by royal courts and nobles for decorating their assembling and drawing rooms. Slowly and steadily Indian marriage items like bangles, Kangans, Kada, etc. were produced in bulk for the general public. Today it is having famous area as “SUHAG NAGAR” because it fulfills almost all the demand of bangles, Kade, Kangans and other items of Suhagins (Married Women). The bangles manufactured in Firozabad also have a cultural significance.

HOSTORY OF FIROZABAD

The ancient name of this town was Chandwar Nagar. The name of Firozabad was given in the regime of Akbar by Firoz Shah Mansab Dar in 1566. They say that RAJA TODARMAL was passing through this town, pilgrimage to Gaya. He was looted by robbers. At his request, Akbar the great send his Mansab Dar Firoz Shah here. He landed near or about Datauji, Rasoolpur, Mohammadpur, Gajmalpur, Sukhmalpur, Nizamabad, and Prempur, Raipura. The tomb of Firoz Shah and ruins of Katra Pathan are the evidences of this fact.

Mr. Peter, who was the businessman, related to East India Company visited on 9 August 1632 and found the town in good condition. It is written in the gazetteer of Agra and Mathura in 1596 Firozabad was upgraded in a Pargana. Firozabad was bestowed to Nabab Sadulla as jagir, in the regime of Shahjahan. Jahangir ruled since 1605 to 1627. Etawah, Budaun, Mainpuri, Firozabad were under first class mansabdar of emperor Farrukhsiar.

Bajirao Peshwa looted Firozabad and Etmadpur in 1737 in the regime of Mohammad Shah. Jats of Mahawan attacked Faujdar Hakim Kajim at Firozabad and killed him in 9 May 1739. Jats ruled Firozabad for 30 years.

Gajuddin, Hidayat Vaksh son of Alamgir second his nephew and Mirza baba the son in law, came to Firozabad .Mirza Nabab Khan stayed here till 1782. In the end of 18th century Firozabad was ruled by Himmat Bahadur Gusain with cooperation of Marathas. The French, Army chief of Marathas D. Wayan, established an ordinance factory in November 1794. Mr. Thomas Traving also mentioned this fact in his book "Travels in India".

Marathas appointed his Subadar Lakwadads here who made a fort near old tehsil, knows at present garie. General Lek and General Vellajally attacked Firozabad in 1802. In the beginning of British regime Firozabad was in Etawah district. But after sometime it was attached to Aligarh district. When Sadabad was created a new district in 1832, Firozabad was attached to it. Later on 1833 Firozabad was finally attached to Agra. In 1847 the business of lakh was flourishing at Firozabad. 1857, freedom–fighting, Chauhans of Mainpuri, Jamidar of Chandwar, with local Malahs, look active parts in it. Famous Urdu poet Munir Shikohabadi too was sentenced to Kala pani by East India company government. People of this city took part in “Khilafat Movement", “Quit India Movement" and "Namak Satyagrah" and went to the jail during national movements.

In 1929 Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, in 1935 Semant Gandhi in 1937 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and in 1940 Netaji Subash Chandra Bose visited Firozabad. Firozabad district was established on 5/2/89.The District is connected by rail and bus to major cities. The nearest Airport is Agra. Longitude is 78 degree of east and latitude is 27 degree of north. The height is above mean sea level 164.467 meter.

The boundaries of district touch Etah district in north and Mainpuri and Etawah in east. The Yamuna River makes its southern boundary. The area of district is about 0.8% of total area of U.P. and population is 1.1% of total population of U.P. Approximately 73.6% population is living in rural area. It has severe winter and summer seasons. Mostly district is plane and its slope is from North West to south.

GLASS INDUSTRY

Bangle industry in Firozabad has an ancient history which dates back to the time when invaders used to bring glass articles to India. During 1857. The rejected glass articles were collected by the local folks were melted in the local furnaces known as “bhainsa Bhatti” the bangle first created by a rural folk and his name was “Rustam Mohammad Ustad” and was famous by “Rustom Ustad” after discovered the bangles and glass articles people of Firozabad have their own product. This incident is marked as the initiation of bangles industry in Firozabad.

Initially only one bangle at a time was made in these furnaces and the bangles were devoid of any joint.

Presently 400 hundred glass industry registered in Firozabad, making different types of glass articles and different types of bangles by using different types of materials. In making these products they used natural gas, before natural gas bring to Firozabad by state government they used coal and wood as fuel in furnaces. 40% of the production are exported to the different countries throughout the world.

The glass industry in Firozabad firstly settled in the city center Suhaag Nagar, after increasing in population and pollution the industries shifted outside from the city.

The glass industries broadly classified into four major categories:-

1- Glass Art Work

2- Glass Domestic Work 3- Glass Hardware

4- Glass Beeds

BANGLE MARKET

The Sadar Bazar of Firozabad is most crowded region for bangles shops. The latest innovation are tried in the technology for increasing the production and decreasing the pollution rate.

With time the place has enough as a major hub of producing beautiful glass articles and bangles by using different types of glass and materials. The bangles have also diversified with time and development in technology and process of manufacturing. The bangles include a variety of material such as –

1- Metal (Bronze, Brass, Aluminum, And E.T.C.)

2- Gold

3- Silver

4- Wood

5- Lac

6- Plastic E.T.C.

GLASS BANGLES

Glass Bangles are products made out of block glass of different shades of colors or directly from batch material. These are the ornamental circles worn on the wrist by women. These are round in shape with pleasing colors and having designs over the surface.

Types of Glass Bangles

POT BANGLES:

This type of glass bangles are light in density and light weighted. This types of bangles are most costly than others. These are generally of few colours i.e. belongs to red colour family,

• Lal (red)

• Mehroon (Dark Brown)

• Anju LAL (Light Red)

• Nirali lal (Red Orange)

BELOIN BANGLES:

This types of bangles are heavy and dense and stronger than pot bangles but cheaper than pot bangles.

These are generally of few colours i.e. belongs to

• Shraabi lal (Bluish Red)

• Resham ( Dark Green)

• Lal (Red)

• Sethani Lal (Red-Orange)

• Megdood (Brown)

• Hara (Green), etc.

LUSTER BANGLES:

This types of bangles are more lighter weighted and minimum in density, These are generally of few colours i.e. belongs to

Golden, Red-Orange, pink-orange

MAKING OF GLASS

The principal constituent of glass is silicon dioxide, or SiO2. Silica sand contains about 96% by Weight of SiO2. However, silica melts at a very high temperature; so in order to reduce the fusion temperature, soda ash and potash are added to the charge as fluxing agents, that is, these chemicals permit the use of lower melting temperatures in the Glass furnace. To improve the chemical resistance of the glass, small amounts of lime, alumina, and magnesia are added. Other chemicals are added as needed to impart different colours to the glass.

The glass is produced in the molten state. It is drawn from the furnace and blown (or ‘formed’) into desired shapes. These products are then heated and cooled in a controlled manner, in a process known as annealing, to impart hardness to the glass. Depending on their nature, the products are then subjected to various cutting and finishing operations before being packed for dispatch to the markets.

GLASS MELTING FURNACE

Glass melting furnaces are continuous furnaces. That is, a melting furnace operates non-stop for 24 hours each day from the moment it is commissioned till its final shutdown. The reason is simple. If a melting furnace is shut down in the middle of operation, charge material and fuel worth several tens of thousands of rupees is irretrievably lost. Furthermore, the costs of cleaning up the furnace and reheating it, along with the costs of the labour and time required to do this, add up to enormous losses for the unit. There are two basic kinds of melting furnaces used in the Firozabad cluster to make glass:

•The Tank Furnace

•The Pot Furnace

Tank Furnace

Tank furnaces are large: each has a capacity to make around 15–30 tonnes of glass daily. Glass from tank furnaces is used to make a wide range of items such as jars, tumblers, signal lamp covers, lamp shades, headlight covers for automobiles, thermos flasks and their refills, and laboratory ware. Tank furnaces are fitted with heat recovery devices called ‘regenerators’, which are primarily large brick structures. These devices recover heat from flue gases and use it to preheat combustion air. Prior to 1996, there were two kinds of tank furnaces operating in Firozabad:

•Coal-fired

•Oil-fired

The former burned around 16 tons of coal daily, while the latter burned around 5200 liters of liquid petroleum.

Pot Furnace

Pot furnaces are used to make relatively small quantities of different colours of glass. A typical pot furnace has 10 to 12 pots, with each pot holding a charge of about 300–500 kg. The pots are filled with charge material, and the glass melted overnight. The melt is drawn the following day. A typical pot furnace operates on a ‘downdraft’ principle, that is, the hot gases from the burning fuel flow up to the roof or crown of the furnace, and then sweep downwards on to the pots (heating them in the process) before escaping through the chimney through a flue gas channel laid beneath the ground level.

BANGLE MAKING

Bangles are made from glass melted in open-pot furnaces (sometimes, tank furnaces) in a series of steps that involve special kinds of furnaces and workers with special skills. The basic steps are briefly described below:

The raw materials are fed into the furnace by a conveyer belt from which the raw materials go into the furnace and are burned there for 12 hours.

• First, a worker (known as the gulliwalla) uses a long iron pole to scoop out a glob of molten glass from the pot furnace at a temperature of around 1300 °C.

• He races with the glob to a worker who gives it an appropriate shape somewhat resembling an ice-cream bar. After this the cone is again heated in a small furnace.

• Then the glass along with the rod is rushed to another furnace which has coloured glass and the person there, coats the glass with a small quantity of coloured blocks of glass that is melted separately in a small refractory container called tali.

• The shaped glob is then taken to the sekai bhatti—a furnace fired directly by coal. Here, a worker known as the sekaiwalla gives the semi-fused glob of glass a roughly cylindrical shape by rotating the rod.

• The still-soft cylindrical mass of glass, now cooled down to a temperature of around 500 °C, is then taken to a third furnace, the belan bhatti. Here, three workers operate in a group to draw the glass into a spiral shape.

The belanwalla rotates a ‘belan’ machine – essentially a long iron rod – inside the furnace at a constant speed. The tarkash draws a thin filament of glass from the melt and places it steadily on the rotating rod, so that the constant turning motion gives the filament a spiral shape. The muthia uses an abrasive tool to cut off lengths of the spirals at periodic intervals.

The spiral lengths of glass (still hot but now hardened) are collected and sent for cutting. The cut bangles are tied with strings into bunches. Each bunch contains approximately 320 bangles, and is called a tora. The bangle bunches are then sent to household units for further processing into ‘raw’ bangles.

THE SMALL UNITS

Bangle-making is a complex chain of interdependent processes, carried out by skilled workers at the household level with all the smoothness and precision of an assembly line in some giant factory. The bangles coming out of the glass melting unit are plain, without any decorative work on them. Sadhai and judai are the crucial first stages in converting raw bangles from tank/pot furnace units into finished products. Both operations are carried out by workers in their homes. Sadhai means ‘straighten’. As the name suggests, in this stage the raw bangle is levelled or straightened by heating it over a small flame – usually from an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder – and then pressing the heated bangle against an iron plate. Women and teenaged girls usually do sadhai. After straightening, the two open ends of the bangle (now in alignment) are joined together once more by heating over a traditional kerosene lamp. This process is called judai (literally, ‘joining’). Judai is usually done by women— and in some cases also by teenaged children.

DECORATION OF BANGLES

The bangles are decorated by many methods one of the is by applying zari. This process many involves women. The. Gold shining patterns are imprinted on the bangles by combs of different types. First the zari is liquefied and the then put into a small box. The comb is dipped into the box containing the zari and then the impressions of zari are applied on each bangle separately.

Giving Impression or making design (Katai) over surface:

The bangles are decorated by giving impressions. The process is called katai. It is carried by in households or small units.

•The bangles are cut by a machine run by a motor.

•There are three discs which rotate at a time and three people use it simultaneously.

•A bundle of 10 to 12 bangles are used and decorated at a time.

•When the impressions are given then the bangles are kept in a water bowl.

• Bundles of these bangles are made for further processing.

PAKAI BHATTI

Raw bangles are baked for two main reasons.

While going through the various stages in their making –particularly grinding – raw bangles lose the natural shine of glass. Baking the bangles in pakai bhattis restores their shine, and at the same time helps in removing the internal stresses in the glass, thus providing a degree of strength to the bangles.

•While decorating raw bangles, gold polish (known as hil) is applied to their surfaces to make the end-products more attractive. The polish is invisible when applied; but its lustre appears when the raw bangles are baked.

•The raw bangles are arranged on trays by the chunaiyya.

•The trays are picked up and transferred from muffle to muffle in the furnace by the pakaiya — the most skilled worker in the unit, and therefore the most highly paid.

• After baking, the trays are removed from the furnace, and the bangles are placed on the ground and allowed to cool. The ginnaiya then counts them and bunches them in toras. A typical coal-based pakai bhatti burns 0.5 tonnes of coal daily to bake around 400 toras of bangles.

SIGNIFICANCE OF BANGLES IN INDIAN TRADITION

Bangles, in India, are now in a new avatar. They add a fresh appeal to females. Bangles have always been one of the accessories that Indian females. Bangles are a symbol of Indian femininity. But now they are worn all over the world by women who intend to look charming and beautiful. They are worn by women of all age groups. In South Asian countries like India and Pakistan, bangles with elegant designs and eye catching carvings are worn on every special occasion religious, social and cultural.

BANGLES AND RITUALS

Bangles stand for the marital relationship of a woman. During an Indian wedding, the bride try to wear the smallest glass bangles using scented oil with the help of her best friend or sister. It’s believed that smaller bangles symbolize a happy and loving marriage and a wonderful courtship. The South Indian ceremony called Valaikaapu (bangle ceremony) occurs during the seventh month of a woman’s pregnancy. The family celebrates, and bangles of all colors and designs are stacked on the woman’s wrists which means she carries all the love of her husband along with her while going to her mother’s house. Another factor about the bangles is that it is considered inauspicious for a woman to have bare arms without bangles. To the Hindu woman, bangle is not only an ornament, but also an important part of womanhood and honor. That is the reason why bangles are removed from her hands, by a ritual, when a woman becomes a widow.

A SYMBOL OF CHANGING FASHION

Although bangles had been religious, social and cultural symbols for a long time, today they have become the symbol of changing fashion. They are also highly popular in their various colors and designs adding to the growing fashion trend. Gone are the days when bangles had been used only in circular shape. Nowadays, they are made in various materials other than metal and glass and can be found in many shapes such as rectangular, round, oval, etc. Today, bangles are made from gold, silver, wood, ferrous metal, plastic, rubber and even glass. Women of India have popularized all over the world gold bangles studded with semi-precious gems, diamonds, or just plain bangles with pretty designs. These bangles easily range from being simple to intricate and are available everywhere in a wide range of designs to suit the budget of both rich and poor. But, tradition still demands that Hindu women wear either gold or glass bangles during rituals and cultural activities.

BANGLES AN INEVITABLE ORNAMENT OF A MODERN GIRL

Bangles and Indian girls are intertwined. It has become a fashion to wear bangles matching to the color of the dress and other ornaments.

The Bangle Maker

Just a simple thought of how the designer and light weight modern bangles are made, is in itself a payment of a grandeur tribute to those workers in Firozabad. Firozabad can be attributed as the "Queen" in terms of Glass bangle production. Even though these bangles bring smile to lots of faces but they do have a negative aspect. Diseases are common in the people involved in the bangle making process.

Firozabad has got about 350 registered units and 95% of its population depends on the same for their daily living. Bangles are manufactured along with chandeliers, beads, table lamps and pottery. The very high pot furnace (1600 degree C) leads to heat stroke, dehydration, anemia, headache and other ocular problems.

The workers, irrespective of their mode of work, inhale soot, fumes and dust from dry glass mixture and other chemicals kept in open. Besides occupational exposure and environmental pollution; food, beverages, drinking water and various lead casting products are the common sources of lead poisoning.

Physiological conditions such as pregnancy, infection or menopause may mobilize lead sequestered in bones. Young of pre-menopausal women release lead more slowly than do boys whereas this distinction is not that significant in men and post-menopausal women. Diets deficient in calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorous, protein and vitamin D as well as high fat diets promote lead absorption.

However, in male vegetarian adults and children, urine lead concentration was higher than female vegetarians.

The studies revealed that nearly all the workers in the bangle-making chain are illiterate. Most of them come from Firozabad or its neighboring districts. There is a sizeable number of migrants from Bihar as well. The majority of families are deprived of basic human needs such as clean drinking water, sanitation, health care, and proper housing. In general, bangle workers have large families; yet they live in tiny, ill-ventilated dwellings in highly congested areas of Firozabad. Worser, their cramped living space is used for bangle-making operations as well. As a consequence, the workers, primarily women and children, are exposed to extremely high levels of pollution in their own homes. This makes them vulnerable to a variety of respiratory diseases, including tuberculosis. In addition to this, the workers use corrosive acids and other toxic chemicals while doing decorative work on bangles.

Burn injuries and cuts are common; eye-related ailments too are widespread. Many of the people loose their vision when they are exposed to darkness for a long period of time. It is common in people involved in the judai units.

Bangle makers in the household

sector are paid piece-rate wages, that is, according to the number of bangles they process in a day. The wages are abysmally low; for instance, in mid- 2007 workers were paid a mere

9 rupees per tora for both sadhai and judai work. The workers do not receive even this payment in full. In practice, contractors known as thekedars hire the workers. The glass factory owner pays the thekedar a lump-sum amount for each batch of work that has to be completed. The thekedar pays only a portion of the amount he gets to the workers he has engaged. Furthermore, it is routine for thekedars to ‘advance’ money to bangle-workers at usurious rates of interest, and to deduct the interest dues from the wages payable. The result: workers are trapped in an endless cycle of exploitation and debt.

The Conclusion

Firozabad being the “Suhag Nagar” and the hub of bangle making industry provides smile to many people and also this industry gives livelihood to many people. It does have many positive as we as depressing aspect.

•It is very pleasing to see that that a single bangle before reaching its final stage has to pass through almost 30 to 40 people.

•The unity of different religious groups in the industry is a perfect example of harmony and unity.

•The atmosphere of the industry is really uncomfortable. The amount of heat generated by the furnace and the surrounding area’s temperature is very high. The workers are endangered to many harmful diseases because of the environment.

•The illiteracy rate in this industry is very high. Almost all the people are illiterate. Provisions for educating the new generations of bangle maker is of utmost importance.

•Child labour is an important aspect of this in industry which is to be eradicated as alomost every second house is related to glass industry and children I these houses are forced to work and are deprived of their rights.

•Carrying molten glass from the furnace to the shaper or loom maker, constant exposure to the heat, sound and pollution.

•Work in closed rooms, no cross ventilation and are continuously exposed to smoke emitted from dozens of kerosene lamps.

•Long hours of sitting in one posture, risk of cramps; continuous exposure to smoke from the kerosene lamps.

•High toxic effect of chemical-based colours, handled with bare hands; colours stick to the fingers and palms and are difficult to remove.

•Working around a small furnace and hot trays; burns are common.

GLOSSORY

BELAN long mild steel rod that is rotated to draw glass melt into spirals, which are then cut to make raw bangles.

BELAN BHATTI furnace in which bangle spirals are made.

BELANWALLA worker who rotates the belan.

GINNAIYA worker who counts the bangles and bunches them after they are baked in the bangle- baking furnace (muffle furnace/pakai bhatti).

GULLIWALLA worker who draws and carries the glass lump from pot furnace to other auxiliary furnaces.

HIL silver and gold polish on bangles.

JAALI wire mesh.

JUDAI A process by which the two open ends of a bangle are joined katai the process of giving impression on the bangle. MISTRY mason

MUTHIA A worker at the belan bhatti who uses an abrasive tool to cut off lengths of the bangle spiral at periodic intervals and/or removes the spiral from the belan.

PAKAI BHATTI Bangle-baking furnace or muffle furnace

PAKAIYA worker who actually bakes the bangles in the banglebaking furnace (muffle furnace/pakai bhatti)

SADHAI A process by which the two open ends of a bangle are aligned.

SEKAI BHATTI Auxiliary furnace used for heating glass lumps to improve its plasticity for onward processing within factory premise

SUHAGIN Married Woman

TARKASH a bangle worker who draws a thin filament of glass from the glass lump and places it steadily on the rotating belan, so that the constant turning motion gives the filament a spiral shape

THEKEDAR contractor/middleman

TORA A bunch of 320 bangles tied with string

ZARI A polish that is coated on a bangle.