Sawantvadi

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Sawantvadi (Marathi: सावंतवाडी) Scheher (sometimes also spelt as "Sawantwadi"), formerly the capital city of the 'Royal Kingdom Of Sawantwadi' is one of the major towns in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. It is the biggest woodcraft industry in India and now is also becoming a major tourist attraction. The official language is Malvani, though Marathi and Portuguese are also spoken by a small minority.

Contents

1 History
2 The City
3 Nearby Villages
4 People

4.1 Common Surnames
4.2 Cuisine
4.3 Eminent People

5 Linguistics
6 Arts and culture
7 External links

History

"Sawantvadi City" was the former capital of the erstwhile 'Kingdom Of Sawantwadi' during the pre-independence era. It was ruled by the Bhonsale clan. In 1947, it was merged with the Independent Republic of India. Since, then it has been the capital town of the Sawantvadi taluka.

The City

The Sawantvadi City, also known as Sawantvadi Scheher is built around a lake called the 'Moti Talav'. Its other principalities include the "Khaskilwada" at the north-east of the lake, "Royal Palace Complex" at the north, "Vizierwada" at the north-west and newly developed housing complexes at the south. The sprawling Queen's College Of Medicine is at the west.

The city is extremely scenic with the lake right in the middle, surrounded by the Mumbai-Goa highway on one side and small lanes on the other. This is in turn surrounded by the township. The whole city is surrounded by mountains on all sides, which gives it an enigmatic view.

Sawantvadi City is 57 km from Goa and 450 km from Mumbai.

The nearest hill station is Amboli, which comes under the Sawantvadi taluka jurisdiction.

Nearby Villages

Nearby villages include Verle,Chaukul,Kumbhawade

People

The people of Sawantvadi are ethnic Malvanis. Prior to being a separate principality, Sawantvadi was a bastion of the Maratha Empire. All religions, castes and clans live here in harmony. Majority of the population is composed of ethnic Marathas. The population also includes Konkanhast Brahmins, Dalits and Malvani Muslims. Other small communities of Christians, Deshis and Jews make up a small minority.

Common Surnames

Surnames of the people include ((GAONKAR)),Rane, Sawant, Kadam, Arekar, Naik & Manjrekar. Some other surnames include Gawade,Pandit, Ambolikar,Satavalekar, Nerurkar & others.

Cuisine

The cuisine of the city is the predominantly non-vegetarian Malvani cuisine.

Eminent People

Shivram Raje Bhonsale, erstwhile king
Vijay Manjrekar, cricketer
Sanjay Manjrekar, cricketer

Linguistics

The de facto language of the people of Sawantvadi is Malvani, which is also spoken throughout the taluka. Malvani is a creole between Marathi and Konkani. Still, shudha Marathi is also spoken by a minority, especially by those who have been raised in other parts of Maharashtra. Portuguese & Konkani are also spoken in this region by a small minority.

Arts and culture

Sawantvadi City is famous for its arts and culture. It is especially known for its wooden crafts. Apart from that various traditional arts still thrive in the city.

Lacquerware

Sawantvadi is well-known for its extremely popular lacquerware. Princess Satwasheela Devi has brought this place to the attention of foreign tourists, by her promotion of the art of lacquerware, a languishing trade that she has revived.

Using traditional local talent more people have been trained and the palace has proved instrumental in the production of lovely lacquer ware furniture, chess sets, board games, candlesticks, fruit and vegetables and little dolls — all beautifully made and coloured. However, the quality of the articles render the items extremely expensive.

Ganjifa cards

The ganjifa card is a card featuring painted pictures of the dasavatara, planets, and other folklore.

The brightly painted cards are made by pasting layers of cloth together with tamarind seed paste, then coating the surface with chalk, before polishing it with a stone, to make a smooth base for painting with natural dyes.

The back is stiffened with lacquer. The upstairs rooms of a section of the palace form the sales and display outlet.

Sawantwadi Moghul pattern cards

The Moghul pattern cards are brightly coloured, quite thin and flexible. They are found in a simple bazaar style and also in an elaborate durbar (court) style, with many shades of quality inbetween, ranging in size from 55 mm to 112 mm. The largest cards often have a small figure in the centre of every numeral card, known as 'darchitri' format. An indication of date is that prior to around 1875 the lid of the card box has a tongue, thereafter it is square. At about the same time a high-domed crown is substituted for the stepped crown found on some of the earlier court cards.

Most cards are anonymous, but some have been recorded from the workshop of Narayan Ramcandra Kelkar, which flourished late in the nineteenth century and early in the twentieth. The initials of painters may also be found on some modern packs.

Shilpa Gram Project

Shilpa Gram is another major project taking shape in Sawantwadi. It will be craft village where local manufacturers will manufacture handicrafts, and tourists will be able to watch them manufacturing crafts and will also to purchase them. Besides this an amphitheatre for performing local arts and lakeside accommodation is also being developed by M.T.D.C.

External links

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