WOOD CARVING

Notungram, a village in Burdwan, has been for centuries a centre for making wooden toys and wood carvings. The craftsman here continues to make various types of painted dolls from a soft wood called gambhar. Apart from dolls craftsman makes the figure of gods and goddess and animals. The most famous of these types are raja and rani or the king and queen and the owl. The figures are carved in a simple technique in a masterly fashion. The body is shaped by chiseling away the wood, sloping away on either side. Finally they are painted in different colours.