The story of the pankha

What do you call a hand fan at home? Pankha, pankhi, beejna, bena… Different places, different words. That is the essay's big idea: every region gives the fan its own form.

Where the word comes from. Pankha comes from *pankh*, the feather of a bird. Pankha means any fan; a *pankhi* was a small feathered fan of ancient India.

How old? Pankhis appear in the Buddhist wall paintings at Ajanta, from the 2nd century CE. Fans also appear in embroidery, sculptures and carvings.

Who used them. In the past, fans cooled the deities in temples and the kings in royal courts. Some were as small as two inches; others were so big they needed a strong arm to swing.

A fan for every region. Pankhas travelled along trade routes as valued, fashionable goods. Every village and town made its own kind, from whatever it had: bamboo, cane, palm leaf, silk, brass, leather or silver, sometimes with beads and stones. Materials changed with place, culture and ritual.