KERALA, INDIA, January 12, 2016 (The Hindu): The Kerala Folklore Akademi at Chirakkal here has come alive with the exhibition of techniques and craft of a style of metal casting that survives among the tribal people of Bastar in Chattisgarh. Called Dhokra, it is apparently the earliest known method of metal casting. A group of 10 Dhokra artisans from Bastar is camping in the Akademi for the live display of their traditional bell metal casting technique as part of the 10-day metal casting workshop being organised by the Akademi. “Dhokra is a traditional tribal bell metal artwork using layers of wax,” said Bannu Ram Baidh, a master craftsman of the visiting team from Bastar. The craft also supports the tribe’s livelihood, he said.
The work begins with the making of a clay core which roughly resembles the product. The clay core is then covered by a layer of bee’s wax and the sculptor carves out the shape. It is then covered with a thick layer of clay. The wax melts when the clay is cooked and thus forms a mould to be filled with molten metal. “Dhokra work is a combination of art and craft,” said Akademi vice-chairman Suresh Koothuparamba, who is an artist himself. It is a 4,000-year old tradition of metal casting, he added.
Akademi secretary M. Pradeep Kumar said that the ongoing Dhokra workshop is being hosted by the Akademi to introduce to the people in the State a cultural legacy of the people of Bastar that still continues.