54 year old master artisan Bholanath Karmakar is the last of the Sherpai makers actively plying his craft. Sherpais are ornate traditional grain measuring bowls of varying sizes, made of wood and bound and ornamented with brass.  Also known as Suri bowls, they were commonly used in the homes of wealthy farmers and zamindars of yore. The use of these ornamental objects as measuring bowls for a range of measures died out with changing needs and the standardization of weights and measuring systems in India and by the 1970s were reduced to decorative items, scaled down in size. 

Bholanath`s journey began after this change had occurred. Son-in-law and disciple of the late master craftsman, Kartik Karmakar, he began his training when he was about 20 years, under the guidance of his father-in- law. Following this up with a government organized training in 1989, he has been actively crafting sherpais ever since. 

He set up shop independent of his father-in-law and gradually began to make a name for himself, side by side with his mentor, among the cognoscenti. Bholanath won the National Award in 2014 from the Ministry of Textiles for his Suri Bowls. The craft unfortunately suffered a setback with the demise of Kartik in the same year. Kartik’s son, Kailash and brother, Shantanu, who would assist the old master, struggled to continue their craft, as it usually takes the labour of three people to efficiently create sherpais. They then began to assist Bholanath instead, but gradually moved away from the craft. Today, Bholanath is the only artisan who steadily continues to uphold this craft, with the help of his wife, Ruma, who is also a national awardee and their daughters. The women, whom Bholanath personally trained,  help with creating the brass components of the craft. 

This labour-intensive craft requiring meticulous work ensured that Bholanath could just about cope with whatever orders he got. The business, though not brisk, because of the time taken to manufacture each set, kept this artisan and his family busy.  Because he could not afford assistants, he could not fulfill all his orders. This changed in 2023, when with the help of a grant that we, Daricha Foundation, were awarded by Hyundai Motor India Foundation under their Art for Hope scheme, Bholanath was able to train a few interns from his village. The magnificent set of bowls created for the project was showcased in Hyundai’s exhibitions in Delhi and Chennai and this eventually led to a much wider exposure and demand for Bholanath across the country. Earlier his main clients were the government agencies and the state emporiums, and a few private buyers, but today sherpai bowls are proudly on offer across renowned online craft platforms.