Woodcraft in Bangladesh

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 4^th 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.

Naval Industry

The naval industry of ancient Bengal was part of woodcraft. Ray cited that a developed industry and commerce on building of small and big river-bound boats and ocean-bound vessels etc. must have existed in ancient Bengal (Niharranjan Roy, Bangalir Itihas Adi Parba, Calcutta 1983, 152). An idea can be formed about the great antiquity of the tradition of woodcraft from the discussion of furniture and other products of wood in the ancients texts like Shilpashastra and Brihat-samhita. The scriptural instructions on the use of different types of wood in preparing boats can be found in the book Yuktikalpataru.

Pala-Sena Era

With the introduction of woodcraft in the society during the Pala-Sena era, fine craftsmanship is observed in the composition of sculptures of that time. Bhattasali, while describing the sculpture on display at the National Museum of Bangladesh, stated that the wooden image of Garuda found at Raghunathpur resembled the Pala Style. (N.K. Bhattasali, Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in the Dacca Museum, Dacca 1929, 273-274). The sandal wood of Vishnu recovered from Krishnapur of Muradanga in Tripura is also a wood sculpture of ancient Bengal.

Mughal Era

During the Mughal regime, as the communication of India with other regions developed, a new dimension was added to the arena of arts and sculpture. In the seventeenth century – during the regime of the Baro Bhuiyans – Brahmanism was weakened because of the influence of Islam and Tantrism and Vaishnava religion expanded.On the other hand, trade and commerce led by the western merchants heralded a new economic phase for the century. As a result, the social and cultural aspect of the witnessed a change. Art and architecture was greatly influenced by this.

18^th Century

After the battle of Plassey, at the end of 18^th century, a middle was created through the commercial enterprises controlled by the British. This change of social structure influenced the arts and architecture. The woodcut industry was introduced in Kolkata during the 18^th century as the English introduced the printing technology there. Even though the woodcut industry had developed in Western India in 1556, it took two hundred years for the industry to expand to East India, that is Bengal. (N. Sarkar, P. Pattrea, P. Ray, B.N. Mukkherjee, Woodcut Prints in Nineteenth Century Calcutta, A. Ashit Paul, Calcutta 1983, 1-127).

Application

Initially woodcraft was limited to furniture. Most notable examples will be the furniture used by the wealthy and aristocratic Tagore family of Bengal until the period of Debendranath Tagore was in the European fashion. At present, popularity of ornamented furniture has increased in the rural areas as well as the urban areas. Some of the most notable examples of local wood products are fences, panels, columns, bedsteads, chests, palanquins, musical instruments, sculptures etc.