History of wood sculpture in Nepal can traced long
back to the Licchavi period (300-897 AD) . Most
of the woodcarvings that have survived throughout
Nepal around temples and other heritage sites are
from the thirteenth to eighteenth century Malla
period. There are no physical monuments remaining
from this era in Nepal to prove their creation except
for its being mentioned in documentaries. A Chinese
traveler Wang Hsuan tse, who has described Licchavi
kingdom in his travel log, has clearly mentioned
the beautiful wood crafts, wood sculptures like
wooden statue, wooden doors, wooden window and decorations
itesm are used by the Licchavis.
Woodwork was kept within the bourgeoisie during
the transition period (879-1200). Though there are
not any remains of the wood craft from this time,
the beauty of these wood works is documented in
many references to those days. Most of the original
woodworks were destroyed during disasters such as
fires, earthquakes, and foreign invasions and then
rebuilt. One of such wooden monument, a traditional
architectural site named Kasthamandapa a wooden
mansion near Hanuman Dhoka, Kathmandu, still stands.
Kasthamandapa was built before 1143 as a shelter
for travelers in the trade route. It must have been
rebuilt many times during the following years, but
the present state strongly indicates what the first
Kasthamanadapa must have looked like. The woodwork
and carvings show the advancement of the woodcraft
during the transition period. The indications from
this site are that it would have taken a long time
for such skills in the crafts and woodwork to have
generated. Therefore, it must have been an ancient
craft that was carefully practiced even before the
transition period. The archives of Gopalaraja Vamsavali
mention that Yodyam temple built by King Somesvaradeva
was beautifully decorated with wood work. Very little
of the woodwork of this period could have survived
until now but some of the ancient woodwork that
are found are dated to be from the Malla period
(thirteenth to eighteenth century).
From the start of the Malla period wood craft
along with architecture started to thrive and reached
its pinnacle when the Valley was divided into three
Kingdoms. As the three kings rivaled each other
to improve the magnificence of the country, more
beautiful crafts were created to outdo the others.
Most of the wood work and wood sculpture adjunct
to architecture in different forms are from the
Malla period. For example, King Pratap Malla of
Kathmandu, being fond of the Viswarupa of Lord Vishnu,
had it created in wood and placed it over the Hanuman
Dhoka in his palace. These crafts have survived
many calamities or have been quickly reconstructed
after their destruction. Each of the three kingdoms
have their own Durbar Square, which were the most
extensively decorated of all places in the kingdoms
and each had a temple for Goddess Taleju erected
as she was the personal deity of the kings.
The wooden artifacts of those days are usually
sculptures of deities, demons, and animals, tudals
(small columns to support overhanging roof but exclusively
decorated), carved and lattice windows revealing
intricate designs and peacocks, and doors, pillars
as well as others. The wood work in Kathmandu seems
independent from outside influences except for the
fact that the designs of these woodworks were essentially
based on Holy Scripture, stylized mythical structures,
related to the paintings in different texts, or
conventional designs such as curves, lotuses, flowers,
and fire.
During and after the Malla period, the houses
built in Kathmandu used wood as a very important
constructing material. Wood was extensively used
for doors, windows, pillars, and tudals. The woodwork
in Kathmandu is more prominent in these construction
materials than in wooden idols. Sometimes faces
were carved on wood and hammered on metal plate
to form an image on the metal. For example the big
metal image of Swet Bhairav offered by Rana Bahadur
Shah near Hanuman Dhoka was produced this way. As
stone and metal craftsmen, likewise woodworkers
also have their workshop at the ground floor of
their houses. This working system helped the generations
to carry on with their ancestral skills. Wood artistry
can be seen in almost all traditional houses, temples,
and shelter houses built with ancient architecture
around the Valley. This shows how enthusiastic and
skilled people were in woodcraft. Even during the
successive Shah and Rana regime, these old traditions
were preserved and can still be seen today.
Here is the list of wooden products HimalayanMart
offers to carry out the tradition of wooden craft
culture in Nepal.