Shola pith (sola pith), also called Indian cork is a beautiful milky-white sponge wood that is finely carved by talented artists to create various artefacts. The most important of these is the traditional headgear worn by a Bengali bridegroom. The craft also comes into use a few months before the festivities of Durga Puja, when the entire backdrop of the pandals is carved using it. The process of making shola crafts is intricate, elaborate and quite tedious, and is practised by craftsmen called Malakars, meaning garland-makers. The craft is mainly practised in areas like Nadia, Hooghly, Burdwan, Murshidabad and Birbhum. Shola pith is obtained from sola plants that grow in the marshy lands of West Bengal, Assam and the eastern marshy Gangetic plains.