These were then carved on walnut wood by the local artisans undergoing training. Each homestay chose from a set of traditional Likhai designs for their doorframes. Taking this opportunity, we too enrolled to learn wood carving. We then had to employ a migrant artisan from Bihar who had come here to work as a construction mason. When we started work, we could not find a local artisan skilled in wood carving. Though many homestays in our village are built in the modern style, we are adding wood carved panels in the traditional design onto the existing door and window frames.
Most of them are handcrafted by local mechanics quite easily, but they are not available in the market. The tools used for carving include – chenni, pateshi (both chisels), aari (saw), basula (a cutting tool like a small axe). You do not get to see such traditional door frames in new homes anymore, and you can barely find skilled artisans who still know the art of Likhai. But today, people who build new homes are not willing to pay the artisans the right amount for their skill and craft.
The fine work on Likhai and walnut wood carvings requires an investment in time. Unfortunately, the craftsmen who made it are no longer around, and their offspring do not continue this craft either.
This is a window frame in a 50-year-old house that still stands in my village. The fine work in likhai crafts requires time and patience In those days there were no electrical tools to make such big and elaborate frames. Whenever I came across such old homes, I would find myself wondering how much time it must have taken to carve these.
#Artisan hardwood windows
The photograph above shows an old traditional home in Martoli, a high altitude village in our valley, which though dilapidated, still has its carved doorframes and windows intact for everyone to admire the beautiful walnut carvings. It was done by the master craftsmen of the Oar community (also called shilpkars and designated as Scheduled Caste). Walnut Likhai can still be seen in old homes. Until two generations ago, the people of Munsiari would build the door and window frames of their houses with wood from old walnut and taxus trees. Even today, people store curd, butter, salt and other foodstuff in these utensils, and so the wood carving of Uttarakhand serves many useful purposes in daily life. Traditionally, people in Munsiari would use thhekis (wooden utensils) in their daily lives, made of wood from the trees of akhrot, lwainth (taxus), saandan (oogenia) and gainthi (boehmeria). So instead of walnut wood, people now use wood from surai (cypress) and utees (alder) trees for making doors and windows in their homes. Today, there are only a few walnut trees left in our region. Wood is extracted from old, thick and straight trees, felled and sized for timber.
On drying it takes on a dark and beautiful colour. Wood from the akhrot (walnut) tree is preferred for carving as it is dense and has a fine grain that is good for making minute designs. When the opportunity to share our stories came up, I decided to use this time and interest to work on my skills and document the whole process from wood to wood-carved mirror frame. I always used to think, how were they made? Recently, when we were improving the traditional carvings on the doors of our homestay houses, I got the chance to learn about likhai (the craft of wood carving) and in the process, made a wood carved mirror frame.Īlongside guiding, I also enjoy photography. The doors and windows in our old village homes are made in the old traditional style with wood carvings on them. In the past year and a half, we have been retrofitting these homestays with wood carvings through Shilp Studio, a collaborative project between Himal Prakriti and IIT Rourkee. We have been engaged in homestays and tourism in our village for the past 16 years. I used to sing chabeeli (the creative interludes and additions to a traditional folksong) at marriages and parties in the village before I became a guide. Most of the agricultural land in our village has become barren due to attacks by wild animals.
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