Arumbavur Wood Carving is done at Armbavur and surrounding places in Veppanthattai Taluk of Perambalur District in Tamilnadu. The Arumbavur artisans employ great skill in measuring geometric proportions and scale of wood and detailing required, from a single block of wood, for various wooden sculptures; from hand-sized carvings to temple chariots and temple cars.
The Arumbavur wood carvings are primarily made out of the wooden logs of Indian siris (Poo Vaagai, Albizia lebbeck), Mango (Mangifera indica), Lingam tree (Mavilangam), Indian Ash tree (Othiyan – Odina wodier), Rose wood, Neem tree (Vembu – Azadirachta indica).
The carvings in Arumbavur Wood Carvings are often inspired by architectural details on temple sculptures and carvings. The dimensions of the wood blocks used depend on the wooden sculpture to be carved. The descriptions and designs which inspire the work lie in temple architecture indigenous to the region. Usually, the statues are crafted at a size range from 1 to 12 feet.
Image credit: giheritage.com
The Wooden sculptures are classified as two types based on the Structure namely, Full image statue (A full structure is carved out of the wood) and Bas Relief statue (Lightly carved design over the surface).
Temple cars and chariots are used to carry representations of Hindu gods. The dimensions of the wood blocks used depend on the wooden sculpture to be carved. The descriptions and designs which inspire the work lie in temple architecture indigenous to the region.
The base part of temple car is structured into three layers as Earthly life (King, Queen, Dancing girls, Erotics), Celestial life (Devar, Kinnarar) and Heavenly life (Shiva, Vishnu, Vinayaga, Muruga, Tridevis). Temple car’s base is structured as it is hold by Demons at the base, above that Turtles and above that Athiseshan. To hold the whole weight of temple car, the wooden log piled at the base of temple car is termed as ‘Boothapaar’. Usually all temple cars have 5 boothappars.
The Vimana of inner sanctum (Garbhagriha) is considered as the purest part of a temple car. This temple car is classified as many types. Based on Wheel’s thickness and numbers, temple car is classified as Full temple car, three-fourths temple car, half temple car by the temple car sthapatis.
While numerous art forms, today, are adopting industrial methods and machinery into their art forms, Arumbavur Wood Carving solely relies on traditional instruments for carving wood into pieces of art. Instead of adopting machinery, the art form has chosen to employ multiple artisans to work at different stages of carving i.e. sizing the wood, chiseling, carving the patterns and detail etc.
In the first step, the wood is sized and cut as required by the artisans. Subsequently, a layout of the design to be carved is drawn on the cut wood using chalk. The wood is then chiselled along the layout for a roughly-carved wooden sculpture with finer details. The rough carving is then smoothened with the help of smaller chisels. The finer details are carved at this stage.
The wooden sculpture is then polished with sandpaper for obtaining a smooth finish. The sculptures are then painted with natural colours, with lacquer or given an antique finish. Enamel paints are also used, at times. Enamel paint is often preceded by a limestone coating.
Being carved out of a single block of wood, great attention and care is required, along with no ordinary amounts of skill and finesse, in creating detail given that a single error could damage the entire piece. Additionally, the carvings are deemed to be the one of the only sculpting which uphold the religious sanctity of the wood carving tradition.
Presently, the Arumbavur wood carvings revolves around idols and deities, temple chariots and temple car, door panels of house, pooja rooms and temples, decorative figures, pooja mandapam.
GI Tag Registration Date : 14 September 2021
GI Tag Number : 429
Certificate Number : 368
Geographical Area : Tamil Nadu
Special Cover Release Date : 09 March 2022
Cancellation : Tiruchirappalli 620 001
Type : GI Tag Cover
Cover Identification Number : TN/04/2022
A temple car model based on Arumbavur wood carving is pasted on the cover. Only 1000 covers are issued and each cover is numbered.
Enlarged View of Illustration
Enlarged View of Cancellation
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