Silver Filigree:- Trakashi, or silver filigree form Cuttack
region, is one of the most exquisite renditions of silver craft. Beaten silver
is drawn into fine wires and foils which are then fashioned together to create
jewellery of infinite beauty. Royal households were known to hanker after
the snow glazed filigree works of Cuttack. The workmanshiphere is similar
to that done in Indonesia and it is these cross-cultural influences which
may have introduced this wonderful art to India. Since silver utensils play
a significant part in family life and religious rituals, some beautiful filigree
works bear their mark on the silver utensils available in the state’s
numerous markets. Silver dishes and decorative pieces
are also available.PIC1
Horn Work:-Parlakhemundi and Cuttack are famous for the horn work, created out of cow and buffalo horns to skillfully produced ash-trays, jewellery and figures of birds and animals. Excellent pottery is also produced in these places.PIC1
Applique:-Appliqué in Orissa is an old temple art, which has been refined to perfection. A fine example of the craft is the enormous appliqué canopies above the reigning deity of Puri, Lord Jagannath. Appliqué are is the process of cutting coloured cloth into shapes of animals, birds, flowers, leaves and other decorative motifs and stitching them on to a piece of cloth that can ultimately be used as a lamp shade, a hand bag or even a garden umbrella. The village of Pipli, close to Bhubaneswar, is the site of beautiful appliqué work, created by artists, quite a few of whom have won national awards for their crafts.PIC1
Metal Craft:-Metal Craft has reached a great deal of perfection in Orissa with some truly indigenous designs emerging from its craftsmen’s skills. Bell metal and brass work are carried out throughout the state, with craftsmen churning out numerous religious and household utensils. Lamp bells, ornate with ethnic designs are quite lovely. The traditional dhokra work is a typical tribal craft in bronze with its mesh like features giving in its distinctive beauty. The tribal families in Sabeiberini a village near Dhenkanal town produce this unusual craft familiar in items like boxes, gods, goddesses and lamps.PIC1
Paintings:-Even at the most basic level Orissan paintings have
a colour and vibrancy that are one of the most effective media of reflecting
life. The painting on walls in Orissa is almost as time , it seems …..
the simple but lovely filigree painting drawn on the walls of the tribal dwellings
is a witness to this exquisite creativity. Tribals such as the Juangas draw
slender
figures of men and women, flowers and fruits in white rice powder on the walls
of their bomes, while other groups embellish their walls with swirls
of contrasting clays of the earth and decorate their bomes with strokes that
are simple but deft in their delineation of what they see around them.PIC1
Miscellanes:-Orissa’s market places are a veritable treasure trove for the visitor. Apart from pata paintings, appliqué items, metal wonders and silver filigree works, there is an excellent selections of wooden and stone carvings of gods, goddesses, masks, toys, lacquer products PIC1