Wood and Lac Turnery of Madhya Pradesh

In Bhopal district of Madhya Pradesh, the Bundi craftsmen have been practicing the craft of wood and lac turnery from generations. The Bundi craftsmen belong to Vishwakarma community. These craftsmen make colorful shiny toys, mortar and pestle, rolling pins, boxes and shelves. Different sizes of wood are shaped and combined to form these objects. Lathe machine is used during the process on which a rapidly rotating piece of wood is shaped with a chisel. Objects such as cylinders, spheres and cones are created with rotational symmetry. Traditionally lathe machine was driven manually by using a bowstring which was operated by hand or foot. Nowadays it is also operated with the help of electric motor.

Vast variety of colors such as green, red, yellow, black and pink mixed with shellac are applied onto the wood. Interesting patterns are created while applying colors. At last the polishing of flat surfaces is done with a blend of khajur /hoenix sylvestris leaf and oil, while others are made to shine with a combination of dried kewda leaf and oil. For practicing this craft, the artisans require some basic tools such as sandpaper, kulhadi /axe, chisel, gouge, mathai /polishing tool and kambhat /woolen rod.