 Malakars were employed to provide garlands and flowers for the village deities and also for the religious and social functions of the society.The profession of a Malakar required a considerable knowledge of flowers, for some were forbidden to be used in religious services and others could only be exhibited before the shrines of the deities to whom they belonged.But their principal occupation used to be Sholapith craft, one of the primordial handicrafts of both the Bengals.