Bankura Ghoda, a pair of wooden horses from West Bengal |
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Bankura Ghoda, a pair of wooden horses from West Bengal, is the fourth Exhibit of the Week of this month, which has been displayed on social media pages of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya.
The museum collected the exhibit from Bankura community of West Bengal in 1997. Bankura Ghoda, a pair of wooden horses, is an imitation of terracotta horses made by potters in Bankura district of West Bengal. Long necked hollow terracotta horse with profuse ornamentation is its distinct characteristic.
Nowadays, Bankura horses adorn living rooms in many houses but mostly in wooden form. Terracotta horses and elephants in Bankura are originally creation of potters. Over the time, their form has changed.
Potters focused more on different parts of animal body in such a manner that representation of the same became more important than the entire body. Originally, terracotta horses were sacrificial offerings for local deities on fulfillment of wishes of individuals or community.
