Dhokra Craft

Trees in the area of Ramgarh district are scarce. Some branches are cut for fuel by dhokra artisans.

Hard labour is required to chop wood for fuel in the hot summer sun.

Malhar dhokra artisans chop a small branches into smaller pieces to use for their furnace where the wax or tar is melted during the making of an item during the dhokra, or lost wax process.

The chopped wood is carried back in baskets on their heads.

A local boy sits on a pile of coal, which is in abundance as the area is rich in mineral resources.

Madhav Malhar on the left, Moti Malhar at the centre and Dilip Mahar on the right sit outside their simple roughly constructed home after having demonstrated their dhokra craft process.

Old pieces from metal containers or items which are discarded are used as the raw material for metal casting.

They are bought from nearby metal utensil shops.

Discarded metal containers or scrap metal is used for the raw material for metal casting.

Artisans obtain this from metal utensil shops nearby.

To fire the furnace, wood from the nearby jungle is used as a fuel.

The dhokra artisan chops the logs into smaller pieces using an axe.

Making the mould out of mud is the first step in the process. The artisans use a mixture of local mud with rice chaff, which helps in binding the whole form.

The design is prepared at this stage.

Clay moulds are dried under the open sun and kept for one day.

After they are completely dried, a layer of tar threads are wrapped on it depending on the detailing required of the design.

As a step towards making dhokra items, the clay mud model is made first of the desired design. It is a mixture of locally available mud and rice chaff.

The mud mould is further dried under the open sun until it hardens.

The broken pieces of scrap metal have to be weighed before they undergo the firing process.

Smaller pieces of metal scrap are filled inside the mould which are ready for casting.

Due to the high temperature inside the pit, the metal pieces melt and take the shape of the mould.

Tar is easily procured from road construction sites nearby. It is used instead of wax as a main raw material in dhokra craft.

The artisans make threads out of tar, as it acts like wax, and can be twisted to any desired form or shape.

After the first firing, the tar inside the mould melts, and flows out. It is collected in a container for further use.

The women from the community do not participate in the making of dhokra items, as it is very labour extensive.

Few women observe the process of moulding and casting.

Pundi village in Ramgarh district, near Ranchi is a settlement of just few mud houses situated next to highway which connects it to Ranchi city approximately 40 kms away. Pundi village is surrounded by forests on one side and a coal mine on the other.

The metal smiths of the village make a variety of decorative and utilitarian products.

A small pendant of Hanuman done in dhokra craft has a simple form that can be worn simply with a black thread by every devotee, male or female.

A lizard in the unique dhokra style reflects the kind of natural life common to their environment

An idol of goddess Durga in dhokra, depicting a scene where she is killing Mahishasur, the demon, is a popular subject for the artisans.

Read more about Dhokra craft here:
-Process 
-Products