Chapter 13 · Topic 13.2 · Prelims + Mains2 of 3

Handicrafts: Stone, wood and metal

Key points

Wood and toys.

2 PYQs 2015–2024

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Prelims box: facts and traps

Craft	Place
Pietra dura (parchin kari)	Agra
Marble carving	Makrana, Rajasthan
Stone carving	Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu
Soapstone and Konark replicas	Odisha
Sandstone jali	Rajasthan, Gwalior.

Stone crafts

Craft	Place	Note
Pietra dura (parchin kari)	Agra	Semi-precious stones set in marble, as on the Taj Mahal
Marble carving	Makrana, Rajasthan	Marble of the Taj Mahal and Victoria Memorial
Stone carving	Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu	Granite carving in the Pallava tradition
Soapstone and Konark replicas	Odisha	Pathara kama (stone carving)
Sandstone jali	Rajasthan, Gwalior	Pierced stone screens

Marble relief and pietra dura borders inside the Taj Mahal.

Wood crafts and toys

Craft	Place	Feature
Channapatna toys	Karnataka	Ivory-wood toys with lacquer; ‘toy town’
Kondapalli toys	Andhra Pradesh	Light tella poniki wood
Etikoppaka toys	Andhra Pradesh	Lac-turned toys with natural dyes
Sandalwood carving	Mysuru, Karnataka	Fine figurines
Walnut wood carving	Kashmir	Deep-carved furniture
Khatamband	Kashmir	Ceiling of interlocked wooden pieces
Sankheda furniture	Gujarat	Lacquered teak

Mains box: analysis and answer points

Craft	Place
Pietra dura (parchin kari)	Agra
Marble carving	Makrana, Rajasthan
Stone carving	Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu
Soapstone and Konark replicas	Odisha
Sandstone jali	Rajasthan, Gwalior.

Likely next angle: Mamallapuram

Practice

Practice MCQs (8)

Q1 · Battle IAS practice

Consider the following pairs: Metal craft — State
1. Pembarthi sheet-brass work — Telangana
2. Sarthebari bell-metal ware — Assam
3. Moradabad brassware — Bihar
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

Answer (c) & explanation

Pembarthi in Jangaon district, Telangana, is known for sheet-brass work with fine repoussé, used for temple fittings and decorative ware. Sarthebari in Barpeta district, Assam, is the leading centre of bell-metal (kansa) utensils such as the bota and kahi. Moradabad, the 'Peetal Nagri' or brass city, is in Uttar Pradesh, not Bihar, so pair 3 is wrong.

Q2 · Battle IAS practice

Consider the following statements about Tarakasi:
1. It is a silver filigree craft for which Cuttack in Odisha is famous.
2. Its delicate designs are made by bending, twisting and soldering very fine silver wire.
3. Its objects are made by pouring molten silver into closed moulds.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

Answer (a) & explanation

Tarakasi (tar, wire; kasi, design) is the silver filigree of Cuttack, Odisha. Silver is drawn into hair-thin wire, which is twisted, curled and set into a frame of thicker wire, then soldered, to make jewellery, boxes and the famous Durga Puja ornaments and figurines. It is the opposite of casting: nothing is poured into a mould. Statement 3 is wrong.

Q3 · Battle IAS practice

Consider the following pairs: Jewellery tradition — Place
1. Kundan setting — Rajasthan
2. Temple jewellery of Nagercoil — Tamil Nadu
3. Gulabi (pink) meenakari — Varanasi
4. Silver filigree of Karimnagar — Telangana
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

Answer (d) & explanation

All four are correct. Kundan, setting stones in highly refined gold foil, is a court tradition of Rajasthan (Jaipur, Bikaner) carried over from Mughal workshops. Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, makes gold-plated temple jewellery used by Bharatanatyam dancers. Gulabi meenakari of Varanasi uses pink and other pastel enamels on gold or silver and carries a GI. Karimnagar silver filigree, registered as a GI under undivided Andhra Pradesh, is now a Telangana craft.

Q4 · Battle IAS practice

Consider the following statements: Statement-I: In finished Bidriware, the silver inlay stands out against a deep black body. Statement-II: After inlaying, the object is coated with a paste of a special local soil mixed with ammonium chloride, which blackens the zinc alloy but leaves the silver bright.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

Answer (a) & explanation

Both are correct and II explains I. After casting, engraving and inlay, the Bidri piece is heated and rubbed with a paste of soil traditionally taken from old, unlit parts of the Bidar fort, mixed with ammonium chloride (nausadar) and water. The salts react with the zinc-rich alloy and turn it a lasting black, while the silver does not change. The contrast described in I is thus the direct result of the process in II.

Q5 · Battle IAS practice

Elongated wrought-iron figures of deities, horse riders, animals and ritual lamps, made by tribal blacksmiths by heating and hammering iron without casting, are a well-known craft of:

Answer (c) & explanation

The wrought-iron craft of Bastar is the work of tribal blacksmiths (Lohars) of south Chhattisgarh. Scrap iron is heated in a small furnace and hammered into slender, stylised figures of gods, riders, animals and multi-wick lamps, with no casting or welding of other metals. It is distinct from the brass and bell-metal Dhokra of the same region, which is cast. Bastar wrought iron craft is registered as a GI of Chhattisgarh.

Q6 · Battle IAS practice

Consider the following statements about Etikoppaka toys:
1. They are lacquered wooden toys of Andhra Pradesh, turned on a lathe from the soft wood of the ankudu tree.
2. Their colours are traditionally obtained from natural sources such as seeds, bark, roots and leaves.
3. They are carved from sandalwood and left unpainted.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

Answer (a) & explanation

Etikoppaka, a village on the Varaha river in Andhra Pradesh, makes smooth, rounded lacquerware toys. Pieces of soft ankudu wood are turned on a lathe, and coloured lac sticks are pressed on as the piece spins, the heat of friction melting the lac into a glossy coat. The lac is traditionally coloured with natural dyes from seeds, bark, roots and leaves. They are neither sandalwood nor unpainted, so statement 3 is wrong.

Q7 · Battle IAS practice

Consider the following statements about the Aranmula kannadi:
1. It is made in Kerala.
2. It is a mirror whose reflecting surface is a polished metal alloy, not glass.
3. Like an ordinary glass mirror, it reflects from a coated back surface, which produces a faint double image.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

Answer (d) & explanation

The Aranmula kannadi is a hand-made mirror from Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, made by a few families of traditional metalworkers. Its face is a cast and highly polished metal alloy of copper and tin, the exact recipe being a family secret. Because it is a front-surface mirror, the image is formed at the polished face itself and there is no secondary reflection, unlike a glass mirror with a silvered back. Statement 3 is wrong. It is a GI of Kerala.

Q8 · Battle IAS practice

Consider the following pairs: Craft — Technique
1. Koftgari — gold or silver wire hammered into a roughened steel surface
2. Meenakari — coloured enamel fused onto a metal surface by firing
3. Thewa — gold sheet worked with designs and fused onto coloured glass
4. Bidri — designs raised by hammering a copper sheet from the back
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

Answer (d) & explanation

Koftgari, the damascening of Rajasthan (Udaipur, Alwar, Jaipur), hammers gold or silver wire into a cross-hatched steel surface, classically on swords and shields. Meenakari fuses powdered enamel colours onto gold, silver or copper; Jaipur is the main centre. Thewa, from Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, fuses finely worked gold sheet onto coloured glass. Raising designs by hammering from the back is repoussé; Bidri is silver inlay on a blackened zinc alloy. Pair 4 is wrong.

0 / 0 correct

Prelims PYQs on this topic (1)

UPSC Prelims 2015 · GS Paper I

Kalamkari painting refers to

Answer (a) & explanation

Kalamkari ("pen-work") is a hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile of South India (a), mainly Andhra Pradesh. The Srikalahasti style is drawn freehand with a bamboo kalam and shows scenes from the epics and temple themes. The Machilipatnam style uses carved wooden blocks. Both use natural dyes and have GI tags. It is not a North-East bamboo craft (b), a Himalayan woollen cloth (c) or a silk cloth of the North-West (d).

Notice how Kalamkari links art, trade and history: Machilipatnam's printed cloth was a major export when European companies traded on the Coromandel coast.

Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.

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