Sikki is the golden craft of Mithila — fine, glossy marsh-grass, dried to a honey colour and coiled and stitched by the region’s women into baskets, lidded boxes (pauti), toys, birds and ritual objects, often dyed in bright pinks and greens. The skill passes mother to daughter, and the work has long been part of dowries and gifts.
Granted a Geographical Indication tag in 2007, Sikki is enjoying a modern revival as designers carry it to new markets — though it remains, at heart, a craft of the courtyard and the wetland’s edge.