Handmade in India

WOOD CARVING
Production Clusters
Leh district:
Wanla
Choglamasar
Products
Choktse - folding
tables
Fehpur - wooden pot
Gurgur - tea mixing
pot
Larger tables
Cupboards
Ritual bowls
Cup with lids
Printing blocks
Tools
Zagham - tool box
Kopsack - sandpaper
Jandar - sharpening
tool
Chisels
Saw
Measuring tape
Gouges
Elaborately carved wooden features as
doors, lintels, windows, beams, furniture
and plaques in homes and monasteries are
an essential element of the Ladakhi built
environment. The distinctive feature of the
wood work is the prominence accorded to
the forms carved in relief. Pear, walnut, teak
and malchang woods are used as they
facilitate easy carving and well finished
surfaces. Most households can afford only a
few
1. plaques or furniture pieces; the
primary patrons of the craft of the
monasteries which commission large
architectural members. Most of the
carved forms have religious
symbolism. Commonly used motifs
include the dragon, the mythical
Garuda, the snow lion, the eight
auspicious symbols of the Buddha,
lotus, clouds, mountain and the
interlocking swastika border.
2. Finely carved traditional wooden
beams and joints.
3. One of the mythical evil spirits on a
carved plaque.
4. The snow lion carved in a low relief
on a wood panel intended for a
monastery.
5. The entrance to the prayer hall of the
Thiksey Monastery.
An unfinished panel, at a workshop in Wanla, demonstrating the stages of
carving. The tools laid out above the panel have been designed by the craftsmen.