Author:

Saikat Biswas
Assistant Teacher
Department of History
Arabindapur Junior High School

Email: sristisaikat41@gmail.com

Abstract:: India was a British colony during the colonial period. During this time India lost sovereign power. British used India as a source place of raw materials for industrial finished products. India became the market of British machine-made products. As a result, Indian traditional village cottage and handicraft industries ruined gradually. India faced deindustrialization and large scale of jobless situation. This issue drew the attention to the Indian national leaders in the time of Indian National movement. Mahatma Gandhi took the initiative to rebirth Indian village cottage and handicraft industries. He used “charka” and made “khadi” in place of foreign goods which was also the agenda of Indian National Congress. Congress working committee spread this agenda to the Indian masses. At that time one of the Congress female activists named Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay inspired by the vision of Gandhiji and took part as a member of Congress. She was a feminist social reformer, freedom fighter and theatre activist of India. After independence in 1947 she refused to enter formal politics. In this article researcher will try to focus on Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was not only a feminist social reformer, freedom fighter and theatre activist but also a cultural heritage revivalist of Indian traditional art and crafts through co-operative movement in grass root level after independence. She set up All India Handicrafts Board and Central Cottage Industries Emporia to preserve Indian traditional handicrafts.

Key Words:Colony,Cottage, Handicraft, De-industrialization, Cultural heritage, Revivalist