Culture of Manora

matchless. The chief articles produced are blankets, coarse cotton cloth (soosi), camel fittings, metalwork, lacquered work, enamel, gold and silver embroidery. Hala is famous for pottery and tiles; Boobak for carpets; Nasirpur, Gambat and Thatta for cotton lungees and khes. Other popular crafts include the earthenware of Johi, the metal vessels of Shikarpur, the ralli quilt, embroidery and leather articles of Tharparkar, and the lacquered work of Kandhkot.

Prehistoric finds from archaeological sites like Mohenjo-daro, engravings in various graveyards, and the architectural designs of Makli and other tombs have provided ample evidence of the people's literary and musical traditions.

Modern painting and calligraphy have also developed in recent times. Some young trained men have taken up commercial art.

Sindh has a rich heritage of traditional handicraft that has evolved over the centuries. Perhaps the most professed exposition of Sindhi culture is in the handicrafts of Hala, a town some 30 kilometers from Hyderabad. Hala's artisans manufacture high-quality and impressively priced wooden handicrafts, textiles, paintings, handmade paper products, and blue pottery. Lacquered wood works known as Jandi, painting on wood, tiles, and pottery known as Kashi, hand woven textiles including khadi, susi, and ajraks are synonymous with Sindhi culture preserved in Hala's handicraft.

The Small and Medium Enterprises Authority (SMEDA) is planning to set up an organization of artisans to empower the community. SMEDA is also publishing a directory of the artisans so that exporters can directly contact them. Hala is the home of a remarkable variety of traditional crafts and traditional handicrafts that carry with them centuries of skill that has woven magic into the motifs and designs used.

Sindh is known the world over for its various handicrafts and arts. The work of Sindhi artisans was