Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c5.335

c5.335

The rush-workers (Nalakāras : Velakāras) often went and worked in the forest, where they could find their raw-material, bamboo among others.² They cut the bamboos with their knives (satti) and made bundles of them.³ With this branch of industry were also associated lute-making, basket-making, rope-weaving and mat-weaving.⁴ Other products of the same industry were palm-leaf-fans (tālavantam : vālavijanam) and leaf sunshades (paṇṇachattakam).⁵ Their skill and workmanship are seen in a description of a palm-leaf-fan, on which a white umbrella was depicted and, with a banquet-hall as the subject (vatthu), among a variety of other forms, was represented a standing figure of a beautiful queen.⁶