Pehchaan - The Story of Kansa

Pehchaan: Making of a Kansa Thaali
Sustainable Luxury is about discernment and responsible choices. That discernment of a connoisseur requires insight into the creation process to assess quality and value.

Our Founder & Creative Director, Anita Lal, offers insight into the making of Kansa – a bronze bell metal alloy, revered for its wellness benefits – created in a complex and laborious process by highly skilled artisans in Orissa.

Ayurveda teaches us that eating and drinking from alkalinising metals like Kansa vessels has wellness benefits for our health and well being. This traditional service ware, hand beaten by tribal craftsmen, has been used by generations for its anti-inflammatory and anti-septic properties. The alkalinising effect on water and food stored in Kansa vessels also promotes healthy red blood cell development, regulates thyroid gland functioning and strengthens bones.

The alloy proportion for alkalanizing Kansa was given by the most famous Ayurvedic scientist in the “Charaka Sanhita,” written almost 3000 years ago. This prescribed ratio can only be achieved in handcrafted Kansa, where the careful heat and beat process is designed to manage the ductile and dulcet bell metal.

The Pehchaan characteristics of handmade Kansa are:

1. The brilliance of its colour (it's easy to see how dull machine-made Kansa pales in comparison).

2. The quality and length of its leher (its ring when struck) – this is why Kansa is called a bell metal and also why the most revered Kansa artisans were called to create the temple bells of kings. You can enjoy and test this leher with a metal or wooden spoon while you serve or eat in handmade kansa utensils on your own daily dining table.

ABOUT THE PEHCHAAN FILM SERIES
Patrons of the arts and crafts have a deep understanding of that medium, and in India this is known as having ‘pehchaan’ which roughly translates as to mean identity, insight or discernment.

With ‘pehchaan,’ one can discern the subtle difference between an indifferently made product from one that was made with care and understanding.

Through our craft films, our endeavour is to offer insights into various handicraft traditions and discuss what distinguishes them and makes them unique and thus valuable.

Produced by Good Earth
Filmed & Edited by Storyloom Films

Видео Pehchaan - The Story of Kansa канала Storyloom Films