Hupari

Hupari is a census town in Kolhapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Hupari comes under Hatkanangle taluka.

Hupari is famous for the production of silver ornaments. Most of the families in this village have ancestral skill for developing artistic ornaments from silver.

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census,^[1] Hupari had a population of 28,229. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Hupari has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 76%, and female literacy is 62%. In Hupari, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

The art of making silver jewellery started in 1904 and since then, there are generations of skilled people working on this art. there are about 10,000 ‘karigars’ or artisans who ‘design’ and make jewellery pieces; and they are supported by an ancillary group comprising women, youth and children in a 25 km radius. Over the years, these artisans have also made or rather invented their own tools and machinery. They have also remodelled several machines used for gold jewellery, to suit what they do.

Silver is more than just their bread and butter. These villagers may throw out or dispose or exchange gold, but never silver. Hupari is famous for it’s ‘ghungroos’ (the tiny tinkling beads in an anklet) and is the only supplier of the same in the entire country! How about that?! They are also famous for the ‘antique jewellery’ pieces, crafted here and sold the world over.

Such exercises instills an immense sense of pride and humility at the same time. And also opens out the mind and heart to what design truly is and can be.

References