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Crafted in stone

Nisha

In Craft Posted

My first day in Bhubaneswar happened to be very rainy indeed. Such a dampener when you have so much to do in such little time. Thanks to Dr.Gadanayak’s (Director, school of sculpture) advice, I had a fairly reasonable list of locations for the crafts I wanted to visit. The closest craft was stone carving, so Girish (my friend) and I were off to explore it in the maddening rain!

Konark temple, Orissa

Konark temple

The initial experience was mind-blowing and this was even before I had visited the Konark temple.  Orissa’s temples are monuments of beauty, every bit of it sculpted by the ancestors of these gifted men, the worshippers of Vishwakarma, the divine architect of the world. The temples are made of sandstone (sanapattar, as it is locally called) and have a reddish-pink sheen.

The first stop was a well established set up owned and run by a master sculptor Dr. Sudarshan Sahu. Though we didn’t get to meet him, we were generously allowed a tour of his premises.

Artisan carving a replica of the Konark wheel

Artisan carving a replica of the Konark wheel

The craftsmen working under him were patiently creating the works of art. One of them, Murlidar explained that Orissa is rich in various indigenous varieties of stone. Anything from the super soft soapstone to the hard granite is available here.

Simple tools for stone carving

Simple tools for stone carving

Very simple tools like chisels and hammers are used to sculpt these beauties.

Stone carver adding the details

Stone carver adding the details

The detailing achieved using these simple tools..

Our next stop was a small workshop on the way to Pipli. The entire Bhubaneswar-Pipli road is dotted with such small workshops. We decided to take a random stop at one of them and we were not disappointed.

Stone sculptures in green background

Stone sculptures in green background

I met Rasamani Maharana, a master craftsman who runs a training school there. The rain soaked sculptures in contrast to the lush green of the surroundings was the first thing that hit me here.

During my discussion with him, I told him that I love these sculptures. However my tiny apartment cannot fit these in and so decided to try out something small for the city dweller! I am restlessly awaiting their arrival. 🙂

Here are a few designs..

Stone Lions that gaurd the temple

Stone Lions that gaurd the temple

Signature sculpture from Orissa. A lion sculpture guards the gate in every temple. It is a symbol of triumph and victory. Note the detailing on the waist band.

Stone sculpture of Hanuman

Stone sculpture of Hanuman

I would have loved to stay back to hear the constant chiseling, taking in the lush surroundings and admiring the sculptures. Another burst of rain and I had to leave.

End of day one..

Please click here for more photos of my Orissa trip.

2 Comments

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  • Ghost Rider
    July 14, 2011 at 1:30 am

    Interesting! I wonder how long it takes to carve out a wheel such as the one in the second picture.

    • craftcanvas
      July 14, 2011 at 5:09 am

      The wheel is actually a part of a bigger structure. The whole structure (I’ll post a picture if I have a good one) including the wheel takes close to 2 years for completion with 5-6 people working on it full time.