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Premium Wood Carvings For Which Odisha is World Famous

by Dr. Manoj Mishra March 17, 2022 0 Comment

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Artistic Glory of Odisha’s Wood Sculptors

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Beautifully carved wood door in the entrance of Kalabhoomi, the unique craft museum of Odisha at Bhubaneswar.

Wood carving is probably the most established kind of workmanship, which has been existing on the surface of earth from Stone age onwards till date. Wood carving is an artistic expression normal to all societies and finds a place in different cultural settings around the world. its widespread acceptability is because of its broad availability , versatility and minimal expense. The genuine disadvantage as a medium for artwork and utilitarian objects is its perishability. But wooden articles when dealt with appropriately with all precautionary measures, can endure endlessly. Houses with gabled wooden roofs covered with tiles and temples crowned with wooden framed roofs are normally found more in Himalayan region and to some extent in Kerala because of the availability of timber in abundance in those places.

India has large amounts of trees which provide the natural substance for making woodcraft. As a matter of fact, wood being grown in tropical forests of India is very well known around the world for its strength & durability. Teak wood, sheesham,Sal , Piasal, rosewood, deodar, cedar, pine and numerous other wood varieties from India are widely being utilized by Indian carpenters and other wood sculptors as well to do fine beautiful carving and inlay work.The most normal kinds of wood utilized for making sculptures in Odisha are Gambhari, Teak and Piasal.

The early wood-carved temples bear witness to the craft of ornamentation of wooden objects existing in India over the ages. Monuments like Ashoka’s palace at Pataliputra, and the magnificent temple at Bodh Gaya are fine examples. The rosewood carvings of Chettinad & Madurai of Tamil Nadu are also famous all throughout India .They claim to be the direct descendants of Vishwakarma, the chief architect of the universe.

If we take into account the present day furniture and handicrafts made of wood, then Saharanpur (UP, India) tops the list..Saharanpur is universally renowned for wood carving. Tracing all the way back to around 400 years in the Mughal time frame, a few wood sculptors came from Kashmir and settled down in Saharanpur and took this work to sustain their livelihood. Steadily this workmanship got stretched out among the average person in Saharanpur. Woodcarving requires a lot of expertise, artistry and dexterity. The carpenters and wood sculptors of Saharanpur are attending crafts fairs around the world and earning very handsome remuneration for their fascinating wood articles.

The wood carvings of Odisha displays an ideal mix of old world charm and modern world glamour. Wood carving of Odisha can extensively be partitioned into 3 classifications, specifically Plain wood carvings ,Painted wooden toys and Wood turned articles.

The wood turned articles of Odisha are implied both for embellishing and utilitarian purposes. The specialty of the wood articles of Odisha is known for its wide scope of shadings, sparkle and polish. After the completion of wood articles , it is polished by wax in order to bring that lustrous effect.Here I am giving certain examples of Odishan wood carvings.

The three Raths (chariots) of the Puri Rath Yatra (car festival )are excessively decorated with wooden images portraying various images of deities as Parshwa Devatas. The Sarathi( Charioteer), Ghoda( Horses), Kalasa( crowning sacred pot) and Olat Sua( inverted parrot) are all newly made out of wood during Nabakalebara of Lord Jagannath, roughly in every 12 years gap.

Olat Sua( inverted parrot),Ghoda( horses), Parshwa Devatas( Side Deities), Sarathi(charioteer) of Raths( Chariots) in Puri during Rathyatra.

image source: Pinterest

Parswa Devata

Sarathi (charioteer)

Image source: Dr. Manoj Mishra

Lord Ganesh,

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Lord Krishna

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A variety of images of Gods ( like Ganesh, Anthua Gopal, Radha Krishna etc.) and Goddesses are also carved out of wood by the wood sculptors of Orissa. The jewellery box, palanka ( wooden bed), sindooka( huge storage box for personal belongings), Khatuli (Deity pedestal), dressing table, Alena( cloth rack), flower vases,Bells to be hanged in the necks of cows, Almirah, bowls,spatula & spoons, jugs, and Sindoor Farua( vermilion container) etc……are some of the widely used wood articles of Odisha. The toys of Bargarh and Puri and a variety of wood articles of Dhenkanal are some of the most well-known wood works which are looked for by people all around India.The wood sculptors of Dasapalla prepare wood articles like incense sticks stand, bowls, jars, etc. using rosewoods because rosewood is comparatively more dark and heavy and hence preferred for these kind of wood articles. The Kalahandi wood sculptors ( particularly belonging to Bhawanipatna, Dharmagarh, Rengapalli, Khairapadar etc…) use teak wood to prepare statues of elephants, rhinos, Radhakrishna, Lakshmi etc.(photo appended).

I.S: kalahandi.nic.in

I.S: Kalahandi.nic.in.

The excellence of the wood sculptors of Odisha can be found in temple ceilings and carved wooden beams and doors in places like “Biranchi Narayan temple” at Buguda, “Shiva temple” at Kapilas, “Charchika temple” at Banki etc…to name a few .

Painted wooden toys

image source: Dr. Manoj Mishra

Some of the eye-catching wooden doors and wood panels ( presently being displayed in Kalabhoomi, an unique crafts museum of Odisha) , which speak a volume about the artistic glory of our ancestors ( particularly skilled Odishan carpenters) ..

image source: Dr. Manoj Mishra

Image source: Sushant Sahoo

Sadabhuja Chaitanya

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(Different types of wooden doors found in tribal houses of South Odisha

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A glimpse of beautiful wooden sculptures found in some Odishan thatched temples, Matha, Bhagabat Tungi etc.The following rare photos have been collected from Bikram ku.Nayak.