Stone Carvings
Stone carving is a very major handicraft of Odisha. As is evident from the innumerable archaeological monuments, rock-cut sculptures, caves and temples built for centuries and embellished with most beautiful and intricately carved statue and other adornments, the art of carving in stone had reached in Odisha dizzy heights, of excellence perfected through centuries of disciplined efforts of generations of artisans.
The artisans mainly use marbles, soapstone, black granite and sandstone to create different items with the help of simple tools like hammers and chisel. Each region has a distinct form of carving and the style differs from one another. The artisans of Pathuriasahi are adept at creating superb stone carving that are mainly found in the temple architectures and figurines. They prefer to use soapstone for providing form to their creations. The artisans of Balasore and its surrounding villages are dexterous in creating utilitarian utensils out of semi hard stone encompassing pots, glass, ashtrays, plates, dolls etc. Even different types of containers made up of kochila stone, sandstone, nilgiri stone, soap stone, kendumundi stone, serpentine stone and soft stone are available in the local markets of Odisha.
Parsurameswar, Mukteswar, Lingaraj, Puri are that wonder in stone, the temple chariot of the Sun God at Konark, besides the beautiful Stupas and monasteries of Lalitgiri Ratnagiri and Udayagiri have kept alive the sculptural traditions of their forefathers and their deft hands can and do chisel and carve exact replicas of the original temple sculptures besides producing a variety of other items. The wonderful carvings in the temples testify the creative exuberance of the artisans of Odisha.
The deft craftsmen of Odisha, apart from creating replicas of religious deities and carving temples, create different articles that are used as utilitarian objects and sometimes are used as souvenirs. The artisans of Mangalpur near Balasore create different articles including utensils from the semi-grey stone of Khiching. A variety of figurines and some utilitarian items like ash-trays, vases and bowls. The stone works of Odisha produced in Bhubaneswar, Puri, Lalitagiri and Khiching are considered to be in huge demand and have a perfect blend of artistry and socio cultural aspects.
The stone crafts of Odisha have long been praised because of the style it carries and the authenticity of the craftsmanship it have been bearing since the dawn of artistic evolution.
