Crafts – Page 68 – Global InCH- International Journal of Intangible Cultural Heritage

In Manipur, two types of wood, locally known as 'want' and 'heijuga', are used for wood-carving. Trees are cut when they reach full maturity and the logs are seasoned for a period of three to four months, in order to preserve the original colour of the wood. 'Wang' wood is lightweight and does not crack easily, whereas 'heijuga' wood needs to be seasoned properly before use or else it warps. The heijuga is weighty. The ancient traditional motifs of Manipuri culture are carved by the artisans. Lacquer work similar to that of Myanmar can also be found in Manipur. The resin is applied in a thickened or liquid state for ornamentation of swords, scabbards, sword handles, and leather belts.

A limited amount of wood carving is done in the Garo hills. They manufacture toys, mainly human figures, animals, and birds.

Dimapur and Kohima are the two important wood carving centres of Nagaland. The carved wooden objects of Nagaland are ritualistic and functional in purpose. Strictly a male craft, it is ceremonial and ritualistic art related to the fertility cult. The carving of human figures, elephants, pythons, hornbills etc are etched high into the pillars of morung or bachelor's dormitory. House posts, gates, drums, husking troughs, grave effigies are all carved elaborately. Simple wooden utensils like food dishes, spoons and mugs are crafted for daily usage. The speciality here is no joints in the objects manufactured. All the objects are made out of single piece of wood.

Wood carving is widely practiced in Tamil Nadu. The famed temple chariots are made of wood and are full of intricate carvings. The Padmanabhapuram palace in Kanyakumari district is an exquisite wooden palace, a striking example of the detailing in wood-carving in Tamil Nadu. Built in the 19th and 20th centuries, this has intricately carved roof gables, lathe-turned columns, carved window grills, decorated wooden ceilings. The ancestral homes are found in the districts of Ramnad, Pudukottai and Thiruchirapalli. Even today house entrance doors made of wood have detailing done on them as the front door is considered a sacred threshold. The carvings on the door panels are of Hindu deities and auspicious motifs like the hamsa/mythical swan, padma/lotus, poornakumbha /cornucopia, kaamadhenu and patterned floral motifs. Other carved wooden items made are small shrines and deities, low carved stools for marriages, carved fans for the deity, fertility couples and various small ceremonial containers. The carved panels of deities fixed to either end of a metre-long pole were the other ceremonial items. These panels are called kavadi and afre carried on the shoulders of a person to fulfill the vow to Lord Murugan or Karthikeya. Intricately carved wooden kitchen instruments such as grinders, vegetable cutters, serving ladle holders are items given in dowry. The range of skills is also exhibited in carved wooden smaller objects like wooden covers for manuscripts, spices and kumkum boxes and games and toys. Toys made of wood are lathe-turned and lacquered, especially the cooking vessels and walkers known as kadasal. These are brightly coloured, inexpensive and are popular all over the state. Carved wooden toys dolls and elephants which exhibit the range of skills of the artisan are also made.

The wood work of Rajasthan is of a very high quality. It is seen in the profusely carved doors and projecting niches and balconies of houses. Carved furniture, mainly beds and divans, are found in Barmer. Jali as well as other wood-carving is found in Bikaner. Bassi, near Chittogarh, has a reputation for high-quality wood-carving and painting and the products made here are mainly for ritual use. The other product made is the kavadh which is wooden shrine opening out into seven panels with painted scenes; the sindoor box in the shape of a peacock given to the girl as part of her wedding trousseau is also important. Pipar and Bhari Sajanpur in Pali district make finely sectioned, turned bowls which are exquisitely proportioned and meant for the use of Jain monks. These bowls are paper thin and are made form rohida wood.

Wood craft, an ancient art form was originally patronised by the Buddhist monasteries, where ornate wood plaques, Buddhist symbols and icons continue to adorn the walls. Wooden images of Lord Buddha, and wooden containers and utensils are extensively used in Sikkim. The local Sikkimese use a wooden pot for churning curd to make butter, where the churner is also made of wood.

Intricately carved, painted and polished Choktse or small foldable wooden tables aptly define the intricacies involved in this art form. Other exquisite carved products include Bakchok – square table, lucky signs, decorative plaques amongst others where the design style predominantly includes traditional Buddhist figures - dragons, birds and phoenix. Wooden masks, also an ancient craft is particularly famous in Sikkim for its depiction of diverse emotions from serene, calm, spiritual to aggression and intensity.

Wood is the main raw material and locally sourced forest wood of 3 types – namely tooni (toona celiata), rani chaap (macalia exelsa) and okner (walnut) are said to be in use in Gangtok, Sikkim for wood carving.

The design process starts with sketching on paper which acts as a stencil for the design to be transferred onto smoothed and cut wood. The design is traced as the charcoal seeps in through the holes created on the outlines. Once the wood is ready, several types of tools – knives, curved and straight chisels – locally known as Tikkyu and Ika respectively, hammer, saw, drilling machine etc., with varied thickness and nibs – from flat, angular to curved, are used to achieve the required intricacies in the final product. The craftsmen use straight and curved chisels to work free hand without using any references. Finishing includes smoothing, coating with a layer of primer before painting in varied colours - orange, golden, red, blue, pink, green, brown and ending with a coat of protected varnish.

The diverse traditions and religions in Tripura are visible in the wood craft. Wood-carving is widely practised among the hill tribes as well as among those settled in the plains, although the nature of the carving differs. Rhinoceros models and tribal figures can be seen together with wooden plaques of Hindu deities like Durga and Kali.

Uttar Pradesh is well-known for its wood work and there is a large variety of wood used here including sisam, sal and dudhi. The wood work done at Saharanpur has the typical perforated lacy work. For the big pieces small lattice frames are made and fitted together. The wood used here is a rich medium-brown shisham with deep grains. The wood carvers at Saharanpur have a natural skill for fine handwork and the fret work --- jali, mehrab or archways motifs --and grapevine or the anguri work are similar to the stone design work of Agra. Brass, copper, ivory and plastic inlay work is also done here. Inlay work in Nagina is done on ebony wood. Popularly known as the “sheesham wood village”, Saharanpur is home to some of India's finest woodcarvers. The city is internationally famous for this craft and its artisans who have been creating magic for years. They “breathe life into dead trees” is how they like to put it. Intricate and fine workmanship are what makes these products unique. The vine-leaf patterns are a speciality of this region. Geometric and figurative carving is also done along with superb brass inlay work. Other materials like wrought iron, ceramics and glass are being combined with wood to give a new dimension to the craft and “contemporize” the traditional products. A wide range of wood types is used to make products: sheesham for small items, teakwood for furniture and mango for antique objects. All of them go through the same basic steps: slicing, carving, inlaying, sanding, polishing and assembling. Craftsmen specialize in one (or more) of these processes, and continue practicing what they are good at every day. As a result, each product is actually handcrafted by not one karigar but many. People in Saharanpur have always been working with wood. More than four lakh people are directly or indirectly involved in this craft, which still thrives on daily wages.

In Uttarakhand, there are more than 3 dozen types of different species of wood that have been used for constructing houses, doing ornamental work, and carving agricultural implements and domestic products. The ancestral houses and temples of Uttrakhand were constructed from wood and stone. Access to these forests for produce hence was filled superstitions and taboos.

Some of the best examples of wood-carving in West Bengal are found in the pillars, brackets, beams, and rafters of traditional chandimantaps, village community halls which are the centers of rural culture. The carvings are floral and geometric. The roof was covered with the local golden grass reeds bound together in geometric patterns by cane to hide the bamboo framework. Examples of chandimantaps are at Atpur and Sripur-Balagarh in Hooghly district and Ula-Balagarh in Nadia district. The raths of Bengal are made of wood decorated with carved panels of floral or geometrically sculptured figures and a pair of wooden horses. The carvings and figures are in folk style for the raths, while those for the chandimantaps are in the classical style. Carved wooden images are seen in many village temples and domestic shrines. Among these carved figures, folk gods and goddesses are almost as numerous as the classical figures. Even figures carved in the classical tradition have a simple but expressive folk style. The figures are painted in symbolic colours and the images are carved in neem or bel wood. Sutradhar craftpersons of Kalna in Burdwan traditionally make huge platters and bowls in many interesting shapes hewn out of a large block of mango wood. In a few villages in the Howdah and 24 Parganas districts there are both Muslim and Hindu wood-carvers who specialize in fine carving; they make delicately carved wooden panels and decorative furniture in teak, sisam and mahogany. Except for the semi-tribal group of karangas, who make turned wood items in the Susunia Hapania forest region of Bankura district, there is no tradition of wood- turning in West Bengal.

The large number of temples in Kerala and the doors, windows, and ceilings of most ancient taravads or ancestral homes show the high level of craftsmanship prevalent in wood-carving. The wood used is mainly deep-brown teak. These elegant taravads are the ancestral homes of the Nair community and are built in a specific pattern around a central courtyard called nalukettu. The rooms have massive teak doors, studded with brass. Rich carvings are found in the archways of these doors and the ceilings have scenes from religious epics, as well as flowers, foliage and animal motifs. A lot of sculptural and relief work is found as part of wood work done there. The motifs found in the woodwork are Puranic scenes and depictions from the epics, along with human figures, animals, birds, trees, and flowers. Rathas or temple chariots used during certain ceremonies showcase the artistry and technical mastery of the craftspersons of Kerala. Painting on wood is found in Kerala, especially in churches which are rich in wood carvings. Wood-carving is a highly evolved craft in Kerala, and the best examples are seen in the temples and churches. The tools used include the Kanupmattam - right angle Chinderam, planars, traditional bow and drill, chisels - flat, half rounded, V shaped and pointed; files - flat file, half round file and V shaped file and the saw. One of the richest examples of wood-carving is the Mahadeva temple in Katinakulam near Trivandrum. The ceiling is beautifully carved with Brahma, the god of creation, sitting on a swan in the centre. Elephant carving is also a specialisation here and elephants are produced in a variety of postures and sizes. Products include fluted coloumns topped by ornamental capitals, carved lintels, latticed shutters and slatted panels door and window shutters, brackets resembling stylized floral forms or composite animals, statuary, lion headed joists ,relief carved panels, wooden ceilings divided into panels, bearing a relief carved motif of a lotus, deity or dikpala, guardians of the cardinal directions; Idols and Decorative artifacts. Produced mainly in Chakai, Muttathhara, Manachaud, Palkulangara, Poonthura, Kulathoor, Karamana, Kurmampura, Vazhutacaud,Vellandad in Thiruvananthapuram district

The wood craft of Dharmsala is based on the Tibetan craft of wood carving. The products made include interiors of homes, architectural elements, statues, altars, boxes and musical instruments. The wood usually used are the khari, chilpine and other softwoods; the selection of the wood to be used is based on its plasticity, ease in carving and durability. The painting, lacquering and varnishing of the wood is an equally specialized task with its distinct colour scheme and style of Buddhist monasteries. The tools used are traditional and made locally from the bamboo fret saw, the bah, that is used to remove wood along the drawn pattern . with hammers, mallets, fine chisels and files.

Although less than five percent of the country's land is under forests, the material available to Pakistan's wood-craftsmen is of considerable variety. While the forests of mangrove-like trees in the coastal areas mostly provide firewood, date palms, babul (acasia arabica), farash, kikar and papal (ficus religiosa) scattered all over the sandy plains have traditionally yielded raw material for wood-craftsmen. In the hill tracts of Balochistan and the Northern Areas are found fruit trees and forests of deodar, pines, walnut, oaks, birch and willows. But by far the largest source of wood are the irrigated plantations of shisham (dabergia sirsco) and mulberry. The shisham plantations vary from large forests in Chhangamanga and Chichawatni (Sahiwal district) to rows of trees along the roads and watercourses. For each variety a different craft has been evolved.

In the first half of the twentieth century the use of ornamental wood panels in buildings declined under pressure of demand for more functional structures and the possibilities of speedier construction offered by bricks, mortar and cement. But the last quarter-century has witnessed a revival of interest in breaking the drabness of concrete walls and ceilings with carved wood panels, and richly carved wooden doors and windows are back in fashion. A far more extensive use of the wood carver's skill has been in furniture making. The oldest surviving style was evolved by the early craftsman of the Northern Areas who created massive pieces - beds, chests, chairs, stands for water-pitchers and oil-lamps, spoons etc. So irresistible is the attraction of carved woodwork that, in order to satisfy the demand of people who cannot afford to pay for walnut, craftsmen in the Punjab plains have taken to carving on hard and cheaper wood like shisham. Chiniot is the traditional home of such workers but one can find smaller groups in almost all major towns near the markets. No doubt they sometimes succeed in carving motifs and patterns traditionally associated with walnut but they know that shisham cannot be given the soft texture on creation of variety in form and designs of surface decorations. Thus one finds tables in numerous shapes: the tops may be rectangular, square, circular, polygonal, or palm-shaped, and they may rest on four straight legs or on a single pillar. A recent innovation from villages around Faisalabad is the setting of tables of different heights into a bigger one, all with carved tops and legs. Another recent example of craftsmanship is the creation of table stands which look like intertwined snakes of different sizes. These collapsible legs, crafted from a single piece of shisham, go especially well with glass tops or engraved metal plates or bowls, which do not cover the unique features of the stand. The common types of wood carving in Pakistan are designs in relief, in which the design is either sunk into the ground or the ground is etched high to stand out; round, in which the design or figure is totally detached from the background wood; chipping, in which a desired depth; incising, in which designs, mostly flower and creeper traceries, are cut into the wood without ground work; and piercing, in which the ground is cut away leaving only the design. At first sight it may appear that the technique of carving on wood has not changed much except that the craftsmen have replaced their home-made chisels, with straight blades in a limited number of sizes, with stronger, imported chisels, with straight and curved blades of various widths. But a study would reveal Pakistani craftsmen have explored in depth the possibilities of decorative carving offered by the natural colour and grain of the wood or to overcome the limitations imposed by such peculiarities. Traditionally they have adapted their workmanship to suit the nature of the raw material. There would be more of perforated work in black, opaque wood and more of relief work on lighter coloured wood. The patterns of carving would be determined by the staple and grain and tonal variations on the surface of the available wood. But there is increasing evidence of successful attempts to defy the impediment of grain to carving and also to reduce reliance on post-carving operations, like rubbing with sandpaper or polishing to smoothen out rough chisel work or sharpen the detail.

WOOD INLAY The use of metal strips and nails to bind chest planks suggested patterns of decorative-cum-functional nails and strips of metal such as had been seen on leather shields and animal gear. The rich rulers started matching precious metals or ivory but since there was enough of gold on tapestries and court gowns and sandals, ivory became the most highly prized material to inlay wood with. But the strength of the craft can be judged not only from the surviving specimens of the period but also from the present-day practice of inlaying wood with other materials. Inlaid furniture and decoration pieces are now being crafted with horn, bone, or plastic. Many craftsmen have learnt to use bone strips so well as to give the effect of ivory inlay. In fact, unlike the workers inlaying wood with ivory, they have found it possible to use bone to create bolder patterns. Notable examples are the setting of floral cut-outs in spiral-like combination on jewellery boxes, and the arrangement in perspective of cut-out pieces under the glass top of a table to give the effect of a sea-bed scene. Much more common now is the use of brass. Peshwar and Chiniot have been the traditional centres of brass-inlaid wood work. The Mohattan Tarkhanan (carpenters quarters) in Chiniot has the largest concentration of inlay experts. Whatever the material used the inlay technique is the same. First the inlay pattern is drawn on paper or card-board which is then perforated or cut to be used as a stencil for transferring the pattern on to the sheet of inlay material - ivory, brass or plastic. The impression of the cut-out pattern is drawn on or hammered into the meticulously smoothened wooden surface. Then the pattern is incised to the right depth and the inlay cut-out driven in. In case of linear patterns the worker lays strips of ivory, bone or brass in the grooves with one hand quickly followed with light strokes with small hammer held in the other. The patterns are varied. Articles meant for marketing at low prices carry simple designs - a single stylised flower, or a floral design surrounded by a circular or rectangular border. A more elaborate design takes the form of a central medallion with instricately laced borders and tughras in the corners. Sometimes the inlaid top of a table or the front of a chest can display the whole design of a finely knotted carpet, with stylised floral decorations, arabesque, tughras, and motifs arranged in borders, centres and corners. In many cases craftsmen are repeating a design over again but two trends are in evidence. One, the composition of the inlay design is changed to suit the shape of the wooden object. Second, every few years the craftsmen move from simple designs created with a few lines and curves to crowded patterns, and vice versa, obviously in order to keep pace with the consumers habit of seeking change from any familiar design.

LACQUERED WOOD In Sindh and the Multan-Dera Ghazi Khan regions of the Punjab the craft of applying lacquer to wood has been refined to a high level. A number of families in Hala, Kashmore, Khanewal and Dera Ghazi Khan have stuck to traditional workmanship despite sharp fluctuations in consumers' taste and the nature of patronage. The choice of colours and decorative patterns vary from place to place. Black, white and brown are favourite colours in Punjab and the designs are mostly geometric. The Kashmir craftsmen like floral patterns in black, red and other deep colour combinations. In Hala the dominant trend is to use rich primary colours to paint both geometric designs and floral patterns. Till some time ago lacquer was applied mostly to items of furniture used in villages - bed legs, low chairs, jhoolas (swings for infants) - but in recent times elaborately lacquered sofa-sets and chairs have found their way into the drawing rooms of the modern urbanities. Besides, the range of lacquered goods has been enlarged to include bowls, powder-boxes, spice containers, mirror frames, walkers, toys, imitation fruits and vegetables, etc. It is in easy to understand how the craft took root in the desert areas. The quality of the wood available was neither good for carving nor was its colour pleasing. The application of lacquer satisfied the rural folks' instinctive desire for different colour schemes as well as helped them to bring the beauty of flowers and foliage into their homes, the growing popularity of lacquered wood objects even when the environment has improved considerably is in a large measure due to the craftsmen's merit. The whole process is so dextrously conducted that one is amazed at the firm and calculated moves of the craftsmen's hands. For the most outstanding Hala lacquer work, done by families that have practised the craft for centuries, wood (kikar, farash) is first cut and chiselled into the required shape. The surface is rubbed smooth with sandpaper or pottery powder. The piece is then passed on to a lathe worker squatting on the ground. He rotates the wooden piece on the lathe and presses the lac stick in the required colour against it. If the ground is to have more than one colour the craftsman leaves spots blank which are coloured in subsequent rounds. After repeated coatings of lac the piece is passed on to another lathe operator who uses a chisel on the spinning piece to separate the layers of different colours. The piece is then handed over to the design-maker who chisels off the upper coat of lacquer to reveal myriad patterns. The speed with which a skilled craftsman carries out this delicate operation is unbelievable. Finally the object is given a marble finish by first rubbing it with a bamboo pen and then with an oil rag. The whole effect is created by craftsmen with their hands but the modest Sindhi worker chooses to call his craft jandri (rotation).

THE CRAFT OF has long been extant in this region due to the. This huge cluster in Kirt Nagar with over 50,000 to 60,000 craftsmen engaged in crafting wood furniture was set up in 1975 by the Delhi government as a jungle of sagwan wood grew here providing the raw material needed for the craft. Working in workshop on an assembly line craftsmen specialize in executing a particular stage of the craft process whether it be the designing and transferring the farma pattern image onto the wool, or carving.

An unusual feature is that the craftsmen sell the products in an unfinished and un-polished form thereby any faults or discrepancies in the wood or workmanship can easily be identified. This furniture is then polished, finished, upholstered and sold by upmarket showrooms. The craftsmen specialize in ornate carvings on Chairs, Tables, Side tables, Beds, Cupboards, Sofas, etc

Other areas in Delhi where carving and carpentry skills are available is in Panchkuian Road and Jail Road

Wood inlay is the process of decorating the surface of wood by setting in pieces of material such as ivory, bone, plastic, or wood of different colours. This craft is concentrated in Mysore and Bangalore in Karnataka where its roots can be traced back to a family by the name of Mirza Yousuf Ali who were pioneers in the field. The artisan smoothens the base of the rose wood and the design is traced and etched into the surface. The several components of the inlay are painstakingly assembled to match and fit exactly into the grooves and are then glued in. The design is finished by obtaining the required shades with several coats of polish. Examples of inlay work in Karnataka include the ivory inlay in rose wood and ebony in the Srirangapatnam mausoleum; the doors of the Amba Vilas palace in Mysore are also fine examples of inlay. Products with inlay include plates, boxes, bowls, cigarette cases, and figures of animals, especially elephants, which continue to be popular. The designs include floral and geometric patterns, landscapes, pastoral scenes, processions, and scenes from the epics.

Marquetry is a craft which has been patronised by the royals of Mysore. Under their patronage this craft flourished during the 17th century. A lot of exquisite marquetry can be seen in the indoor architecture of the Mysore palace. The height of the craftspersons' skill can be seen in various door and window panels. The most astonishing story of this craft community is that many non Hindu artisans are involved in depicting elaborate stories from Hindu mythology.

Unlike many other crafts which received royal patronage, the wood inlay craft of Mysore is very much alive. Many fine arts students are drawn into practicing this craft. The Mysore Fine Arts College offers special course in wood inlay. The back streets of old Mysore are teeming with wood inlay workshops. More than 5,000 artisans earn their living from this craft. The Regional Design and Marketing Center (a Government organisation) offers various schemes to help these artisans. The forests near Mysore are the major source of raw material for this craft. A number of timber merchants supply solely to the artisan community. The traditional use of rosewood as a raw material has become expensive and mango wood is often used as a replacement. This gives the artisans almost the same surface quality at a lower price. Also, mango wood enables the artisans to get nice grains. Designers have introduced MDF (medium density fibre) for the surface. MDF is a recycled board and the use of this board also helps in preventing deforestation. In much the same manner in which horns and bones took the place of ivory, plastic sheets are now used instead of horns and bones as the inlay material. This enables the artisans to make inlayed products at a lower price and gives them the opportunity to explore other segments of the market. These plastics are available in plenty in the Mysore main market area and are available in a wide variety of thicknesses (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 millimetres).

The dimensions and the scale of the products to be produced are given to the artisans as sketches and colours are mentioned on these sketches. The artisan cuts the relief painstakingly in various coloured woods. These are joined temporarily with watered Fevicol (an adhesive). The carpenter works on the surface and he also cuts grooves on it to fit in the spliced pieces of wood. After the spliced wood is fitted on to the surface, it is nailed together for some time and then is sent for pressing. This pressing process is done by machine and takes about a day and a half. Once the pressing is complete, the article again comes back to the artisans for polishing. Polishing takes some amount of time. It is done with fine chisels and later on with sand paper. Inlay artisans possess another fine skill, which is to scratch the surface and rub it with lampblack. This skill is used for producing very fine images such as eyes, eyebrows, hair, etc. Designer-artisan interaction is a recent phenomenon in Mysore. Artisans have responded to the market need without the help of designers. They have started depicting various scenes on flat surfaces and making framed portraits of famous people, gods and goddesses. Small souvenirs like key rings, pen stands and small boxes cater to the mid range tourist market. Jewellery is also being produced and is a potential growth area.

Mysore inlay artists are doing well and the quality of their skill has certainly survived. However, a greater input from designers and architects is required to help them in exploring new markets and using inlay in new and innovative manners. The beauty of Mysore inlay lies in the level of detail that is achieved. However, on the flip side detailing can also be regarded as unnecessary embellishment. If a greater volume of work is to be provided to the inlay artisans, they will have to be taught to do less inlay work while at the same time not to lose their expressiveness. Elaborate inlay worked products could be reserved for high-end markets. Karnataka artisans are known for their intricate carvings of rose and sandalwood. They employ age-old techniques to carve, inlay, veneer, paint, and lacquer articles in wood. Traditionally, craftspersons in Karnataka inlaid rosewood and ebony with ivory, some of the finest examples of which can be seen in the Seringapatnam mausoleum and the doors of the Amba Vilas Palace in Mysore. Today different types of wood of different colours and shades and plastic are used as inlay material to depict themes from Hindu mythology, secular themes, birds, animals, landscapes, etc. The usual articles made in Karnataka are inlaid furniture items, powder boxes, bowls, puja mandaps, wall hangings, etc. Karnataka is known for its ivory inlay work. The ornamentation, which usually consists of geometrical, scroll or floral patterns, is produced by setting small pieces of ivory in different shapes into the design incised on a flat surface. Mysore is the only city in the state where wood inlay is produced. This exquisitely delicate craft consisted hitherto of ornamenting rosewood with ivory. But of late the emphasis has shifted to securing a happy and attractive combination of woods of different natural colours against a dark background. A wide range of articles are made by inlay workers at Mysore, among which mention may be made of panels, treys, pegs, tables, plates, boxes, powder bowls, and cigarette cases besides the dusserra pageantry, landscapes, and pastoral scenes.

Punjab has its own wood work centers and each one has its own distinct style. Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Bhera are known for their furniture and the carving is low relief with geometrical, floral, and animal designs. In Hoshiarpur, wood inlay work is done and the wood used is shisham or black wood, both as ground wood and with inlay. The articles made are tea pots, boxes, trays, table legs, screens, bowls, and chess boards. A popular and traditional product of Punjab is the pidhi, a wooden frame with an inside seat of woven jute sutli or cotton threads, twisted or untwisted. The designs are geometrical and the motifs are incorporated by weaving techniques. The normal height of a pidhi is 6 inches to 8 inches. With modern innovations they are raised in height, and made similar to a chair.

The wood inlay craftsmen in the beginning used ivory for the inlay work but ivory has now been replaced with bone. Plastic, different woods, shell and acrylic are also being used.

Wood is first seasoned and the design drawn on it with a pencil. The pattern is engraved onto the wood and the designs are carved out.

The acrylic sheets or whatever inlay material is to be used are cut carefully as per the design and after that set into the carved recess of the base wood with a mixture of adhesive and sawdust.

Beautiful metal inlay with brass or copper wires is also done. After inlay the surface of the wood is leveled and a thin layer of beeswax is applied to the surface in order to give it smoothness and gloss.

Intricately carved jewelry boxes, and other decorative and utilitarian items are crafted. Traditional techniques of decorative wood work, carving, inlaying, turning, and lacquering are being applied now to high-quality furniture and accessories.

There are many palaces in Rajasthan where the doors are inlaid with ivory in intricate floral or geometric patterns. The same craftsmanship is found in thrones, howdahs, and horse or camel saddles. Mirror-inlay work on wood is of Persian origin. Here the glass is blown by the craftsperson at the site of decoration and while it is still hot mercury is poured in to mirror the concave insides. Then the blown mirror-glass is broken into small pieces and shaped according to the pattern drawn on the wooden wall. These are fixed with plaster or lime.