Doko “ Traditional Nepalese Bamboo Basket“
Doko a tradition Bamboo basket. It is used with a shoulder strap or a head strap called Namlo used in rural areas to carry goods from one place to another. As we can say in the early times there were hardly a transport or motor roads to carry out goods, at that time this Bamboo baskets (Doko) were used as a container or basket to carry goods and also for other services by the people in the early days. People used to carry all sorts of goods for eg. Food items, utensils, and even they used to carry a sick person or a disabled person (person who cannot walk) to take them to the hospital for treatment. People actually used it for different purposes in the early days, because of its durability and sometimes they even used it as a temporary cage for animals. This Bamboo Basket (Doko) production was a good source of income for the people, as in the rural areas or villages in the early days old people made this Bamboo Basket (Doko) as we can say it was a traditional practice of homemade goods and basically to fritter away the time as there was no mode of entertainment ( for eg. Television) and people made a livelihood selling these products (Doko). It was a traditional practice that they passed it on to their family members from ages to ages. And still, this tradition is alive in the rural areas or villages of different parts of Nepal and also in the North East region of India (Darjeeling, Kurseong). We can still see the people using Bamboo Basket (Doko) for fetching water from the sources by placing the water pot firmly inside it and people can be seen carrying firewoods(purpose of cooking) and forage (for their cattle’s) till date. It was and still is one of the convenient ways of carrying loads by the porters.
How is Doko Bamboo basket made?