Peacock design - wood work

I have already shared many peacock designs. Some on sarees which I have printed using screen printing techniques,  and some sculpted in  very ancient temples.
Recently when visited a craft exhibition I could capture. This is wood work from Chittoor Andra Pradesh. 
Here are the peacock designs, the below one is colorful.

Peacock design- wood work of Chittoor

And this is not painted :

Peacock- woodwork - without colors

 Both are beautiful and elegant .

Soon will share about some more DIY, crafts , Saree design and arts.

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana
 

Wood carving from Bijnor(UP)

Bijnor is a small town in the district of Saharanpur in north east part of Uttara Pradesh. This has historical wood carving craft tradition dating back to the Mughal period. During my visit to an craft exhibition I came across some craftsmen from Bijnor.
Here are some of the their woodwork:

Combs made out of wood

 It is said that some of the carvers moved directly from Iran to Saharanpur and settled here. So we can see the influence of Persian designs in the wood carving.

Combs made of wood

 Most of the district is covered with forests. So wood carving is widely practiced in the stat- Saharanpur, Nagina, Pilakhuwa, Bijnor, Aligarh, Bareily, Bulandshahr,Lucknow and Mathura.Nicely carved combs are their specialty.

Framed carved combs

Now the wood carvers have extended their art, to meet the customers' requirement. Not only decorative items, they make many puzzles and games from wood.

Many puzzles made of wood

Puzzles and games

 When I checkd the price, these were not very expensive. One should have in woodwork collection.

Wood craft of Chittoor-Andhra Pradesh

Wood craft is very ancient craft practiced in India. Though very ancient crafts are practiced in mud (terracotta ),slowly people started using wood because of its durability. I have already shared about the Woodwork of Rajasthan and Wood craft practiced in Coastal Part of Karnataka . Both are entirely different, but both are elegant and very intricate. There are hundreds of varieties of wood work practiced in India, hope to write about all in this blog :-).
In this post sharing about the wood craft of Chittoor- Andhra Pradesh. The wood products crafted in Chittoor varies from small toy to big idols and panels. Majorly its practiced in Kalahasti.The wood required is sourced from nearby forests. The wood is soft and light, and this wood is also used to make toys like kondapalli toys.
The major distinguishing feature of the wood craft of Chottoor from the wood craft of Karnataka is the color. Here you can see the difference:

Wood craft of Karnataka

Wood craft of Chittoor

In wood craft of Chittoor ,after carving the theme on wood, its polished and painted with colors to give life to it. Here are some images of wood craft of Chittoor :

Lets start from this beautifully crafted Pacnhamukhi (5 faceds ) Ganesha Idol. 

 

 Here are some wall panels and wooden idols. You can see the perfect combination of colors have brough life into the idols.
 

 Here is a panel depicting Vishnu Kalyana ( Marriage of Lord Vishnu) , before paints applied:

 Ans , at last not the least my all time favorite idol of  Lord Shri Krishna

 May be its South India or North India, always Indian culture , arts and crafts mesmerize  me. I always love to know about all the crafts of India, also to share with you all. Keep watching this space to know more about Indian crafts.

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Wooden replicas of Jharokas

The last post  contains some information about wood work of Rajasthan. While writing about wood work of Rajasthan, replicas of Jharokas cannot be missed.
Basically Jharoka is a balcony constructed in Indian Architecture. The Jharokha projects out of the window and decorated with beautiful carvings and painted.
Jharokas in different types :

Image courtesy - Wikipedia

Image courtesy - Wikipedia

Image courtesy - Wikipedia

 

 

 

The wood workers of Rajasthan make the small replicas of these Jharokas. There are very artistic. The Jharokas are carved on the wood and painted with different colors.

Each one is unique and very artistic. Its a perfect artifact to decor your home. Isn't it?

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Colorful Wood work of Rajasthan

Rajasthan , which has biggest desert of India, is famous for unique crafts.As I have observed almost all crafts of Rajasthan like tie and die on cloths, block printing , phad painting, miniature painting, blue pottery, Meenakari etc involve lots of bright colors.Even most of the  folk songs of Rajsthan includes the word "Rang", means colors.
As opined by many craft researchers, wood work is pactised in very few places in Rajasthan, where there is existence of forests. Wood work practised in many parts of India, use paint to minimal. The woodwork of Rajasthan, is not only involves very intricate carvings, also painted artistically.
Here is glance of the woodwork of Rajasthan, which I captured in an exhibition :

 Wooden boxes are made with wood and embossed with metal sheets. And allover decorated with colors and designs.

 Carved and painted figures are very attractive :

Here are some beautifully carved wall stands :

  The replica of Jharoka, is very significant in Rajasthani wood work. To know about Jharokas, wait for the next post.
Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Ananta Fine Arts- Heaven for Handicraft lovers

You have already read about Gudigargalli-Kumta in my previous posts:

Gudigaragalli- Street of Handicrafts

A visit to a handicraft shop in Gudigaragalli .And in the last post about the shop  Ananta Fine Arts, which has a vast collections of artifacts.
 I could not share all the details in a single post, hence continuing in this post.

 The artists of Ananta Fine Arts make excellent Chariots.It won't be exaggerated if I write "Most of the Hindu temples of coastal Karnataka and Goa have the Chariots made by  them".

You will definitely agree with me by seeing these:

They are good in stone sculptures :

You will love these eye catching clay statues. 

This post will be incomplete, if I don't write about the legend behind the art, Late Shri Shamba Shet.He had got many awards and appreciations from all over the world. Few glimpses are here:

Have a look at the carved portraits of Smt. Indira Gandhi and Shri Rajiv Gandhi

Now the next generation is taking the art forward.
There are many artists and shops of handicrafts in this street.
 I'm proud of the artists "Gudigararu".

I could not post all the photos here. You can visit this link to see the magnificant works of handicrafts.

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

A shop in Gudigargalli- Ananta Fine Arts- Heaven for Handicraft lovers

In my previous post you have read about Gudigargalli - A street of handicrafts.
Gudigaragalli- Street of Handicrafts
A visit to a handicraft shop in Gudigaragalli

Ananta Fine Arts is another shop in Gudigargalli, which really paradise for Handicraft lovers. If you don't visit this shop, in Gudigargalli, then your visit is incomplete.
During my school days, we used to cross  this shop, while going to school. Everyday, I used to peep inside, to have the look of magnificent world of handicraft. I enjoyed the view of statues of all Gods and Goddesses , which looked like Durbar of Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha, Krishna, Rama , Sita etc. This is a part of my sweet childhood memories!
I wanted to write about this shop and the artists. But could not get proper photos. I requested one of the artists and shop owner Mr. Dinesh Shet. He shared the photos of the sculptures. So sharing the same with you. I'm sure glimpses will take you to world of art.
This is the shop:

Some of the wooden Mantaps :

Carvings are very beautiful

  

The lovely peacock on both the sides !

Divine Idols

They are the best when it comes to making of Chariots, stone sculptures and clay sculptures.

I will share about those in my next post.

Until then ,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Tipu Sultan Palace - Bangalore

Most of the time, we neglect the monuments which are in the city or place where we reside. Though I wished to visit Tipu Palace,  many times, I could not. My niece who came here during summer vacation , is also interested in visiting old monuments. So we visited, Tipu Palace.
In actual sense, this is not a big palace. Tipu Sultan( Ruler of Mysore), used to address his people here.
This is how it looks from the entrance :

The Palace is built with wooden pillars and arches.

Pillars are very nicely carved:

It has  steps which leads to first floor:

The walls and ceilings are beautifully painted with flower and vine designs. This resembles Mughal design.

 

 

And finally , the balcony, from where King used to address his people:

Inside the Palace, few weapons and belongings of Tipu Sultan are kept. I could click Tipu's portrait :

We visited Bangalore Palace also.

Bangalore Palace

I will share about Bangalore palace, in the coming posts. 

Until then

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana