Twilight Vacations

I never knew Kashmir was home to some of the best walnut wood carving  in the world.I've heard that walnut trees are not growing in any other place in India except for Kashmir valley.It's a unique wood for carving in terms of color and flexibility to work on it.The different parts of the walnut tree has different colors.The root has almost black color and is the most expensive one. Wood carving is done on a variety of objects from tables, chairs, writing desks, dining tables , cigarette boxes,  jewelry boxes, photo frames and a lot of other decorative objects.You just name it! You could find varieties of wooden handicrafts with various motifs from Kashmir flowers and plants.Though they are mostly Muslims,it's nice to see even Hindu symbols,and also wooden statues of mythical Hindu god and goddesses. Wood carving is also done  on the doors, walls and windows of traditional Kashmiri houses and their beautiful house boats.I've been told that British who came to Ka...

In my last post I explained about   How to create Papier Mâché within some informative clear photos as they do it traditionally in Kashmir.Though I liked what the two masters were doing but still couldn't understand why this art was a Heritage of Kashmir until our guide Ejaz opened a simple door and suddenly I found myself in another world! You could find loads of different shapes with diversity of colors and designs and they were all made of waste papers! Amazing!  The most important characteristic of these Handicrafts is, they are not only outstandingly beautiful but also so light and even resistant to water! you can see how I'm holding some big items which they weighed not more than 200 grams ! At last I bought one piece for myself which I really love it and whenever I look at it,it reminds me of beautiful Kashmir and its simple but kind and hardworking craftsmen! Give this to me and I will be super happy You can see all the Kashmiri st...