Woodcarving
You’ll find carvers of wood right through the country. Life in
India, one is forced to acknowledge, simply cannot happen without
them. They are quite vital to the Indian way of life: they model
wooden deities; they decorate our places of worship; they fashion all
sorts of utensils like ladles, cooking spoons, and the critical
rolling pins (to make chapattis of course); they carve windows and
doors of many a home in rural India; and they make exquisite
furniture.
Woodwork goes back a long time. Brihatsamhita, an early 6th
century text by Varahmihira, holds forth about the sanctity of wood,
specifying the type and use of trees. Certain trees are suitable for
icons while others would probably be better used in houses and
buildings.
¤ Exquisite Woodcarvings in India
In the good old days of kings and nawabs, woodcarving was essentially
seen as an adjunct to architecture. Any palace or haveli worth its
name had to have incredibly carved doors, windows and jalis (lattice
work). The Mysore Palace and the havelis of Old Delhi, Kashmir and
Jaisalmer in Rajasthan are a good example of such work. In recent
times architectural commissions have dwindled to nothing.
Consequently, artisans have turned their hand to more commercially
viable options like artifacts, wooden plaques and furniture for urban
homes. Master craftsmen can, however, still be found in the states of
Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
Kashmir:- Elaborately worked walnut lamps, boxes, table tops
and screens.
Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh:- Furniture, decorative items and
utensils made from white dudhi wood and the heavily grained brown
shisham.
Rajasthan: - Carved and painted horse, elephants and parrots.
Karnataka: - Sandalwood and rosewood boxes and caskets and
statues of every imaginable figure of the Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and
Christian faiths.
Andhra Pradesh : - Images of Lord Venkateswara.
Gujarat, Delhi, Mysore (Karnataka), Hoshiarpur (Punjab) : -
Inlay work using colored woods, horn and even plastic.
Jaipur (Rajasthan) & Manipuri (Uttar Pradesh) :- Inlay
work known as tarkashi using burnished copper or brass wire which is
set in the wood to create geometric or floral patterns.
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