Woodcarving is an ancient craft practiced in India long before the age of ancient stone sculptural age. It is the artistic practice of shaping and decorating wooden objects into diverse utilitarian and decorative handicrafts items. The most common varieties of wood used for this craft are teak, sal, oak, ebony, mango, sheesham, etc.
Wood carving is a time consuming process. Small items of carved
Wooden handicrafts may take a week to be made. Large items requiring elaborate carving may take few months for their manufacture.
Main clusters: Saharanpur is world famous for its wood carving and is known as
â??Shisham Wood Villageâ?? or â??Wood Cityâ?? of India. Other important
Centres of wood carving in India are Manipur, Bhopal, Nagpur, Chennai, Madurai, Mysore, etc. Kashmir is famous for walnut wood carving.
Artisans involved: Number of artisans involved in some of the clusters are59:
Saharanpur: Over 250 artisans and 15 self-help groups (SHGs) Manipur (Kakching): Over 266 artisans and 17 SHGs
Bhopal (Sheopur Kalan): 300 artisans and 25 SHGs Nagpur (Bhandara): Over 300 artisans and 30 SHGs Khairpadar: Over 529 plus artisans and 25 SHGs
Raw material used: Raw materials used for wood carving are wood, babul Gond (gum),
Potassium permanganate, Chandras (lac grains in acid), harmach powder (for an antique finish), wood preservative, varnish, materials for embossing, fevicol, zinc, colours