Kansa Ghanti with Carved Wood Handle

Name: Kansa Ghanti with Carved Wood Handle
Brand: PEETAL PARAMPARA
SKU: PP-KA-POO-GHA-069
Price: 2599.0 INR
Availability: InStock

A kansa ghanti with a wooden handle carved with birds and a turned knop.

Rs. 2,599.00

Price includes GST.

Weight: 150g

Material: Kansa (bronze) bell, carved wooden handle
Finish: Polished
Use: Rung at the opening of a pooja and through the aarti
In the box: 1 kansa ghanti with a carved wooden handle

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Estimated, not a guarantee. Dispatched from Guwahati, Monday to Saturday.

Each piece is shaped and finished by hand, so small differences in weight, size, finish and surface marking are normal and no two are identical. Colour on screen can differ from the metal in daylight. Handmade in India.

The handle is not metal. It is a turned length of pale wood, pierced and carved with a bird among leaves on each face, cut into rows of gadroons above and below, and finished with a small metal knop rather than with the wood itself. The bell under it is plain and smooth with no pattern on it at all, and the flare takes a mirror off the studio lights.

What is it?

Kansa is bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, and a ghanti is the small handled bell rung to open a pooja and again at each turn of the aarti.

Also known as a bronze ghanti, pooja bell, kansya ghanti, hand bell or bell metal ghanti.

What is in the box?

1 kansa ghanti with a carved wooden handle

How do I look after it?

Kansa is an alloy of copper and tin, known in English as bell metal or bronze. It is dense, hard, and heavier in the hand than steel of the same size.
Wash by hand with a mild dishwashing liquid and a soft sponge straight after eating. Dry fully.
Kansa darkens with use and reacts to sour food faster than brass does. Serve lemon, curd, tamarind and pickle fresh rather than leaving them standing in the vessel.
To restore the shine: tamarind pulp, or lemon and salt. Rinse thoroughly and dry.
Do not use steel wool, harsh detergent or bleach.
Not dishwasher safe. Not microwave safe.
Kansa is hard but it is not forgiving — a fall onto stone can dent or crack the rim. Store it where it will not knock against other metal.

Handmade in India

Every piece finished by hand

Solid metal

No plating, nothing to chip

Weighed and listed

In grams, on almost every page

Tin lining stated

Where a vessel is lined, we say so

Questions about this piece

Is this kansa solid or plated?

Solid kansa in the bell and solid wood in the handle. At 150 g this is the small bell in the range, and almost all of that weight sits in the metal rather than in the handle above it.

Will it look exactly like the photograph?

The frame shows four sizes side by side and the listing sells the small one. The carving is cut by hand into wood, so the birds and the leaves differ from handle to handle and the grain never repeats.

Is kansa the same as brass?

No. Kansa is copper and tin. Brass is copper and zinc. Kansa reads paler and rings longer, which is why it has been used for bells and for eating vessels rather than for cooking pots.

Is this the same as a hanging ghanti?

No. A hanging ghanti is a fixed string of bells at a doorway. A pooja ghanti is held, rung at the opening of the rite and set back down on the thali.

How do I clean it after pooja?

Wipe the bell with a dry cloth and keep water off the wood. When the metal dulls, a paste of lemon and salt on the bell alone brings it back, then rinse and dry it away from the handle.