Pilikula Nisarga Dhama

The Dakshina Kannada District of Karnataka is a land, rich in art and culture. The region’s cultural heritage is evident in its vibrant art forms, architecture, folk arts and folk sports, popular rituals and practices. The vivid images evoked by Yakshagana, Kambala, Bhoota Kola and Naga Mandala leave a ever lasting impression in the mind.

Dakshina Kannada district has a rich tradition of artisans – practitioners of various arts and crafts which have perpetuated down the ages through hereditary lineage by highly skilled craftsmen who depend on their crafts for livelihood.

The arts and crafts they practice include Pottery, Handloom, Cane & Bamboo Products, Carpentry, Blacksmithy, Wood Carving, Stone Carving, Toddy Jaggery, Oil Processing, Beaten Rice, Fish Net Weaving, and Jasmine Culture.

With the advent of mechanization and modern industrial culture, most of these arts and crafts lost their commercial significance and have gradually faded into oblivion. The younger generations have migrated to the cities and have taken to other more lucrative professions.

In order to protect and preserve these age old part of our culture, Pilikula Nisarga Dhama has created a model Artisan Village depicting these unique professions in their traditional settings. This village includes a production and training centre where people are trained in the relevant skills.

The village comprises of several traditional cottages with full fledged demonstration facilities in their typical rural settings. Each cottage is dedicated to one of the above art or craft and daily demonstrations are given before visitors. The products are also available for sale to the public.

The chief objective of this project is to identify the traditional artisans, provide appropriate training and create marketing facilities so as to ensure survival of their profession.

In an effort to attain this, Pilikula Nisarga Dhama has developed an Artisan Village where the specific aspects of Dakshina Kannada’s cultural heritage are identified and preserved in the form of exhibits and live demos.