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| Wooden Buddha Statue |
Introduction
Human
beings are driven by their needs to use wood as a material for making weapons,
houses and utensils. Wood is also is a material for artwork. Previously,
woodwork was mainly seen under the purviews of religious centers like mosques,
temples and churches. Over the course of time, woodwork entered into the
palaces of emperors and kings. In modern life, woodwork and woodcraft are
valued in every sphere of life.
History
Early
woodcraft
The
practice of woodcraft in the East Asian section can be seen as far as 4th
century B.C. As narrated by Megasthenes, there was widespread use of wood in
the architecture of India. The wooden palace of Chandragupta Maurya and the
beauty and the diversity of woodworks of Pataliputra was specially mentioned by
him. The large wooden palace was a unique instance of woodwork. The sadeli work
now found in Bangladesh was also in circulation during the Maurya age (R.C
Majumder, The Classical Accounts of
India, Calcutta 1960, 223-224). Construction of doors, chariots,
thrones etc. decorated by artisans in wood is also mentioned in the religious scriptures
of the Hindu – the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In Mohenjodaro and Harappa,
wood was not only used but its qualitative standard was also considered that
time.
