Dhokra Metal Crafts

Dhokra craft is known as tribal craft that combines metallurgical skills with wax technique to create things of distinctive beauty. It has enchanting folk motif, primitive simplicity, a rustic beauty and imaginative designs and patterns the same technique had been used by the Mohenjodaro craftsman to cast the bronze figurine of a dancing girl about 4500 years ago. The Dokhra metal casting craft is practiced in the districts of Puri, Dhenkanal, Nayagarh, Khurda, Keonjhar, Sambalpur, Mayurbhanj, Phulbani and Ganjam in Orissa. There are also tribal dominated pockets in Andhra Pradesh, some parts of Bengal and Raigarh and Bastar districts of Chhattisgarh in central India - the quintessential mineral rich vast tracts of India where these Dokra artisans and tribes are scattered.
The dokra craftsmen mainly produce figures and figurines of gods and goddesses, ritual deities like lord Shiva, Durga or Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Narayan, Kartik, Ganesh, lord Brahma and Vishnu, religious birds and animals like owl, swan, peacock, mouse, lion and various types of objects that are required for rituals such as Pancho Pradeep, Dhunuchi etc.
These Dokra artists also prepare objects of home decorative artifacts such as chariots, lamps, lampshades, lamp holders, horse drawn carriages, carts drawn by ox, decorative pieces, Santhali ornaments like necklets, trinkets, anklets, bracelets etc. The distinctive appearance of Dokra craft is due to its antique and stark finish and rustic look - both of which are widely coveted in international art markets and in domestic markets.