The Committee
- Takes note that India has nominated, Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru Punjab, India for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, described as follows:
The craft of the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru represents a traditional technique of manufacturing utensils of brass, copper and bronze. The Thatheras belong to the Khatri caste, a lineage of specialized craftspeople within Punjab. The community consists of 400 families that occupy a manufacturing settlement in the town of Jandiala Guru. The settlement is laid out along a series of narrow lanes, lined on both sides by small workshops and sheds, each having an adjacent residential space. Metal from a rolling mill is melted in underground furnaces, poured into iron moulds and cooled into cakes of metal that are then flattened into thin plates. The Thathera men then hammer these into curved shapes, welding them together to produce pots, urns, vessels and bowls. Heating the plates while hammering and curving them into different shapes requires careful temperature control, and this is done on tiny stoves buried in the earth and fired by wood chips. Handheld bellows help to increase or reduce the intensity of the flame. The utensils are finished by polishing with acid, sand and tamarind juice, all done by hand – or sometimes by foot. Designs are made by skilfully hammering a series of tiny dents on the heated metal. The utensils often have specialized ritual uses, for example, at weddings and temples.
- Decides that, from the information provided in nomination file 00354, Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India satisfies the criteria for inscription on the Representative List, as follows:
R.3: An ambitious set of safeguarding measures are described, although the Committee would have welcomed further information on their feasibility as well as on measures to mitigate the risks of possible over-commercialization of the element.
- Further decides that the information provided in nomination file 00354, Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India, is not sufficient to allow the Committee to determine whether the criteria for inscription on the Representative List are satisfied, as follows:
R.1: Although the community of Thatheras is clearly identified, the nomination does not provide a sufficient explanation of the social and cultural functions of the metalworking craft for them and of the element’s present state of viability;
R.2: The nomination does not provide sufficient information on how inscription on the Representative List would contribute to ensuring visibility of the intangible cultural heritage in general, or whether the element is sufficiently viable to serve of the purposes of List;
R.4: Although the concerned communities have participated in the nomination process and the Jandiala Guru Utensils Manufacturers Association has provided its free, prior and informed consent, additional information would be needed to describe that of the larger Thatheras community;
R.5: The State is requested to provide further information to demonstrate that the element is included in an inventory of the intangible cultural heritage present in its territory, as defined in Articles 11 and 12 of the Convention, as required in criterion R.5 of paragraph 2 of the Operational Directives.
- Decides to refer the nomination of Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India to the submitting State Party and invites it to resubmit the nomination in a subsequent cycle, providing the additional information specified with regard to criteria R.1, R.2, R.4 and R.5.