ਕਾਰੀਗਰ

Karigar (ਕਾਰੀਗਰ), pronounced kaa-ree-GAR, is the Punjabi word for an artisan or craftsman: a skilled worker who makes or repairs things with tools and trained hands. A karigar may work in wood, cloth, leather, stone or metal, and the word carries respect, because it names a person whose skill has been learned over years, not picked up in a day.

ਅਰਥ

Rekhta defines karigar as an artificer, artisan, manufacturer or technician: one who is versed in some technique, a skilful workman. Glosbe gives ਕਾਰੀਗਰ as the Punjabi translation of artisan, a skilled manual worker who uses tools and machinery in a particular craft. The Hindi and Urdu meanings add the maker of things from wood, stone and metal. The related word karigari (ਕਾਰੀਗਰੀ) means craftsmanship or workmanship, the quality of the work itself.

Where does the word come from?

Karigar is of Persian origin, recorded as such by Rekhta. It joins kar, meaning work, with the Persian maker suffix gar, so a karigar is literally a work maker, a person who makes work into things. The same two parts explain why the word is so wide: any trade in which skilled hands make or mend something can have its karigars, from the carpenter and the goldsmith to the jutti maker. In Shahmukhi it is written کاریگر.

Karigars in Punjab

Punjab's karigars are known for woodwork, phulkari embroidery, dhurrie weaving and the Punjabi jutti. Outlook Traveller notes that inlay work in shisham wood is still made in Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Amritsar, with patterns from the Mughal era. Pure leather juttis still have to be made by hand, because the leather is too thick for machines, and are decorated with silver or gold thread. Factory made goods have shrunk the old crafts, so the surviving karigars work in pockets across the state.

Is a karigar the same as a mazdoor?

No. A mazdoor is a hired labourer paid for manual work, while a karigar is paid for skill. The two often work side by side: on a building site the mazdoor brings bricks and mortar, and the karigar class of worker, such as the mistri, lays them straight. Every mistri is a karigar, but a karigar may also be a weaver, a jeweller or an embroiderer who never goes near a building site.

What does karigari mean?

Karigari means craftsmanship: the fineness and care visible in a finished piece. When Punjabis praise the karigari of a carved door, a phulkari or a pair of juttis, they are praising how well the karigar did the work, not just the object itself.