Diya on Tortoise

Diya on Tortoise is an extraordinary bell metal handicraft item that represents the extraordinary Dhokra craft of Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, devised by the Jhara and Gond tribes. The magnificent work of art is a great piece of home decor and the brassware can simply enhance your surroundings with its vibrancy and artistic designs on the face and the body.The legs, eyes, mouth and the shell of the tortoise is decorated by coiling metallic strips. The Jaali artefact features intricate designs from top to bottom and the elegant tortoise shape is topped with a stylish diya that can be used for the purpose of lighting during festive season. The chequered-net pattern is sure to enhance the look of dark-wooden tabletops or sacred worship places for an artistic touch to your living space.

About Jaali Dhokra Art

Dhokra is synonymous to oldest. The art of metal casting is centuries old and has only revived through the ages with the respective tribes of culture-rich states like Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Assam, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal restoring the Dhokra art, which is almost 4000 years old.

Presently, the art is being practised by incorporating fresh design elements in order to offer a new-age phenomenon to the artefacts while keeping the traditional techniques intact.

The Jaali Dhokra metal workers artefacts are distinguished for their appearance. The human figures or statuettes of birds and animals made by the artisans, feature ornate netted structures that prove to be eye-pleasing artefacts and a medium of storytelling wherein the artisans depict subjects starting from simple activities of life to epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Procedure

The indigenous techniques of making intricate Jaali Dhokra artefacts involves thin wires of wax prototypes which are then converted into brass structures using the basic lost-wax process.

The sculptors begin with gathering soil from locally found anthill and model it into fine clay on which a second layer of clay is added.

The artisans mix some amount of clay and cow-dung in the second layer, which is added on the original layer. A coat of wax in narrow threaded-like structures is applied on the second layer before compressing it through a bamboo or an object with similar space of a cavity.

The thread-like structures are then used as trimmings to create stunning pictures and fine detailing work on the mould, with best artists putting up intricate designs on the mould.

A thin layer of clay is then applied on the elaborately designed wax and allowed to dry.

On being dried up, the sculptor makes a number of holes on the layer in order to let the molten metal flow and thus resulting in the process of losing wax.

The holes in the mould are then filled with molten brass, which replaces the residual wax and takes the shapes and patterns that were created on the wax.
The clay is then subjected to high temperatures and allowed to equally spread through the mould.

In the final stages of the process, the mould is allowed to cool off and when it is hardened either partially or completely, the clay is removed from the sculpture for the purpose of decorating.

Region

The unique Jaali art of metal casting is practised by the Jhara/Jhorka and Gond tribes living in Ektaal and Baigandhi areas of Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh.

goroots provides a concrete backing to the Dhokra craftsmen in the remote interiors of the culture-rich states of India. We encourage the ability of the tribal handicraft artisans and genuinely support their efforts through our website.