Wedding nolen gur season helps mouldings compete with flavours in sandesh world
Times of India | 16 December 2024
123 Kolkata: The wedding and nolen gur (liquid date palm molasses) season has helped moulded sandesh compete with flavoured ones in the sweets market. Cornered by flavoured and experimental sweets, the traditional ‘chhanch' (mould) sandesh like "Jol-bhora" and "Taal-saansh," as well as jumbo-sized (500gm-2kg) moulded traditional sandesh specially made for ‘biyer tawttyo' (large sandesh sent traditionally as gifts from the bride's household by the groom during a Bengali marriage), are in high demand during this period.
The century-old art of sandesh mould-making continues with three living wood engraving artisans of Rabindra Sarani still upholding the tradition. Sixty-year-old Ashim Kumar Das of Modern Art & Co. makes teak-wood traditional sandesh chhach. "The entire top-rated traditional Bengali sweet shops, as well as local shops in Kolkata, order these moulds from us, but due to the increasing trend of plain-shaped flavoured sandesh, our business is suffering," he said. Das learned this art from his father, Kishori Mohan, when he was just 16. His father was an expert mould maker for block printing at a press.
"Although different flavoured sweets in simple round or square shapes replace the old traditional mould sweets, during this period, it is highly required to prepare nolen-gur sandesh," said Sudarshan Ghosh, a sweet shop owner in north Kolkata. ‘Chhana' (Indian cottage cheese) is used as the main raw material, which is pressed inside the mould to prepare sandesh.
Moulds are made in different shapes like conch-shell, fish, birds, animal figures, and fruits like mango, lychee, and custard apple. They are also made in various geometrical patterns such as square, triangle, rhombus, hexagonal, circle, or semicircle.
The new-age mould artist Jayanta Kumar Das (44), who has been experimenting with many new designs, is in high demand among customers. "The traditional immortal designs are usually fish, butterfly, and conch, but the new generation also wants variety and transformation in the mould designs," said Das, who makes moulds of Mickey Mouse, Doraemon, and penguin. He recently designed a jumbo-sized mould featuring Howrah Bridge and city streets, with the bride and groom sitting inside an iconic yellow taxi, which became a big hit for ‘tawttyo' sandesh.
The intricate wood carving chiselled works require a lot of patience to shape out a design, particularly for these exquisite moulds. Sixty-two-year-old Narayan Chandra Das of Shakti Art & Co. in Rabindra Sarani, who learned the skill from his cousin at the age of 16, said, "Our next generation is no longer interested in this profession, which requires patience and hard labour." His father, Baidyanath Nath Das, who was born and brought up in Katwa in Purba Bardhhaman, first opened a small shop in Chitpur about 112 years ago.
The traditional moulds are even now exported to the USA and different European countries. Some buy these as collectible items too. "This time I bought a few traditional sandesh moulds from Rabindra Sarani," said Suchandra Banerjee, an NRI staying in New Jersey.