Dhokra metal casting process of Barkai village, Chattisgarh Artisans

This is an assessment of the Dhokra metal casting techniques, used by the craftsmen’s from Barkai village, Bastar, Chattigarh. Barkai is a small village of tehsil-Makdi, Bastar district in Chasttisgarh state, India. It is a tribal craftsmen's village, especially brass metal work. Those artists are known as Dhokra casters, these craftsmen were renowned for making tribal idols, religious images, and animals like horses, elephant etc. and other objects. The name 'Dohkra' refers to a collection of metal items, finely formed and adorned brass ware products made using the 'lost wax method' or 'cire perdue' procedure. Dhokra was originally used to refer to a tribe of nomadic craftspeople who lived in Bengal, Orissa, and Madhya Pradesh. Dohkra is known for its strength and shapeliness of design, and it is made by a tribal community. Its themes are usually inspired by folklore.While the elephant is the most well-known of the creatures, there are others. Human heads, kings, manas (miniature replicas of measurements), containers with lids, with or without locking systems, pictures of deities such as Ganesh and Durga, lamps and lamp stands are just a few of the motifs. The study's aims is to learn about the Dhokra craft production method in present times, for which documentation of metal craft making process is done from beginning till the end.