Wood crafts

Tamil Nadu, the epicenter of South India’s cultural extravaganza is noted for a multitude of reasons ranging from its splendid temples, imposing monuments as well as an efflorescent art and culture manifested in its paintings, wood crafts and sculptures.

Woodcraft is a burgeoning revenue generating industry in Tamil Nadu. The state whose skilful craftsmen once depended upon the patronage of the ancient monarchs to earn their livelihoods is now teeming with talented local villages and artisans whose expertise is manifested in the variety of indigenous artifacts created by them.

Tamil Nadu’s basket and fiber products are aesthetically appealing and very much in vogue all over the country and abroad. Palm trees along with bamboo shoots, cane, grass and reeds form a major ingredient of Tamil Nadu’s wood works and relate basket products. Besides the wooden barks, the coconut fibers are used to make common utility products like baskets, ropes, mats and other miscellaneous items.

Several musical instruments like the bow of a Villu Pattu are also composed of the barks and overhead branches of the Palmyra tree. A number of small and medium-sized handicraft agencies that specialize on woodcraft are mushrooming in the villages in and around Dharampuri, Salem, Coimbatore, South Arcot and Tiruchirapalli districts.

Tamil Nadu, with its budding handicrafts industry is the hot seat of South India’s glorious culture. The state opens up a Pandora’s box of cultural delights replete with abundant wooden and sculpted souvenirs that tourists can pick up as treasured memorabilia.

Last Updated on 1/17/2011