For years people have been tying bells around the neck of their cattle. Along with beauty, it makes finding cattle in the forests easy. Cattle bells were once a symbol of prosperous rural life, but the use of machines, and dwindling cattle numbers, have reduced the tinkling of the bells.
Baraon village in the Palamu district of Jharkhand is famous for making cattle bells. The blacksmith has been making bells for generations.
The bells are made of old/used iron drums. The drums are first cleaned and made into sheets. Then, the sheets are cut according to the requirement, that is, of small size for smaller bells and large size for big bells.
The people here do this cutting in a local measurement, which is called a farma. The farma has fixed measurements for making 10 different sizes of bells, which have been passed down from generation to generation.
With great skill, the iron sheet was shaped into a bell without any margin of error.
Once the bell is ready, brass and borax are applied to it and moulded in clay. After which it is heated in a furnace.
Finished bells are taken out with the help of an iron rod and kept aside to cool a bit. After which it is placed in water, and the clay layer is cleaned. At last, the clappers are fitted into the bell, before selling it to the market.
Cattle bells were once a symbol of prosperous rural life, but the machine age, and dwindling cattle numbers, have reduced the tinkling of this bell.
