Golden hands: Kashmiri artisan Ghulam Nabi Dar

By Nusrat Sidiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) - The designs carved in wood in the workshop of craftsman Ghulam Nabi Dar in Indian-administered Kashmir are breathtaking.

The motifs of deep carved flowers, roses, birds, animals and humans on the polished walnut wood is a delight to the eye as Dar has made the exquisite handmade jewels for years.

The 69-year-old Dar, a resident of the Muslim-dominated capital of the Kashmir region, Srinagar, has been associated with wood carving art since he was just 10 years of age.

The intricate designs which Dar craves from walnut has taken him years of toil and hard work and is now just one of the few Ustaads (Masters) left in the region.

The art of wood carving can be found in parts of Srinagar and is altogether a male-dominated profession.

The walnut wood, locally known as Doon kul, is considered best for carving because it is more durable and has a fine texture especially the root and stem parts of the tree.

- 'It has been worship'

Cornered with abject poverty, it was in the late 1950s when Dar and his brother, Abdul Majeed Dar, had to leave school because they could not afford school fees.

At that point, Dar was 10 and his brother was 8.

"It was a very harsh life. We were very poor. There was not even proper food to eat, no better clothes. You can imagine we didn't have shoes or slippers to wear," Dar told Anadolu Agency at his home in the capital.

After leaving school, Dar and his brother became idle and their father decided to enroll them in a wood carving workshop, Karkhaana, so they could acquire skills and earn money.

But it was not easy for Dar to learn the art and its intricacies which he thought he would learn in a short time. It took him more than 20 years to learn and practice.

“It has been worship. There is no denial about it. God had chosen me for this and till this point of time, I am doing it,” said Dar.

- Struggles

After quitting his studies, Dar and his younger brother started working for local wood carving artisan, Abdul Razzaq Wangnoo, for five years without learning much.

“There was no practical learning there. We were just using sandpaper to polish wood which was not the real art,” said Dar.

To learn more about the art, Dar decided to join another artisan, Abdul Aziz Bhat, to further enhance his skills.

It was at Bhat’s place where Dar found craftsmen of different levels and decided to become a master of the art.

But at Bhat’s workshop, orders usually came from a well-reputed firm of that time. Subla & Company.

“Many best known craftsmen of that time used to make these orders but they never showed their art to anyone. The finished work from these artisans was locked in one of the rooms of the workshop,” said Dar.

But his passion to learn the craft bore more flames and he decided to copy designs from finished products and try them at home on a plank of raw wood.

Luckily, many times the door of the room where the artisans kept their work was open and Dar used the opportunity to copy the designs on paper.

“I used to remain awake until midnight to practice these designs and slowly I began to get results of my hard work,” he said.

Looking at his passion, the employer Abdul Aziz Bhat decided to teach him secrets of the art but Dar said it was master Nooruddin who enhanced his skills and made him learn the art through his drawings.

“I cannot forget master Nooruddin. He wanted to continue this legacy. If today I am at this stage it is because of his contribution,” Dar said.

The art of wood carving in Kashmir is believed to have been introduced by Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom during the reign of Zainul Abdideen in the 15th century. Many experts say that the king promoted the art to improve the region’s economy.

To this day, several examples of intricately carved buildings, shrines and mausoleums survive in Kashmir. The shrines of Noor-ud-din-Wali at Charar-e-Sharif, the Naqshband mosque and the shrine of Nund Rishi are just a few.

Historian, Dr Abdul Ahad told Anadolu Agency that the art has been indigenous to Kashmiri culture as well as other art and crafts.

“Historically Kashmiris had interlaced art system which went through the phases of sophistication particularly at different time periods but it sustained,” he said.

He added that now we have reached a point where the crafts were needed to pass on to the next generations but it is ironic to see they are fading due to institutional and administrative apathy.

- Started from a scratch

After getting a hold of the art in the late 1970s, Dar opened his workshop and a customer wanted a delicate wood carving on a 10-foot (3-meter) wooden piece, which nobody was willing to do.

"I decided to do it. And with God's blessing, I finished it. That was when I came into the limelight," he said.

Fifty-nine years later, Dar is the most celebrated artisan in the region with a state and national award under his belt.

He has been to several countries to showcase his art but what concerns him is that the younger generation is reluctant to take the art further. He said government apathy has left the art to die.

Shakeel Qalandar, one of the industrialists in the region agrees with Dar that the government has not taken initiatives to take the art to new areas or newer generations.

He told Anadolu Agency that policies like the creation of skill-based centers have also not yielded better results as students are given training for a few months to two years which is not sufficient.

Dar says he has met government officials and asked them to open a large center for wood carving in Srinagar and impart training for at least five years.

“We need to inform young people regarding their art and culture. They need to know themselves who they are but it has been really unfortunate that no such initiatives are taken or at least spoken for,” said Dar.​​​​​​​