About Craft

The craft has its origins in tribal communities of Odisha, especially in Balasore, Kalahandi, Koraput and Bolangir districts. Using unhusked rice grains, idols of Goddess Saraswati, Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha are made during Diwali.

The art needs a lot of patience. Working with something as small as a paddy grain is time consuming. The entire process demand meticulous attention and minute detailing.

No formal tools are used in the making of Dhaana Murti. Typically, raw materials such as, locally available unhusked paddy seeds of uniform size, thin bamboo sticks and strong yarn in red, green and yellow colour(s) are needed. The bamboo slivers and rice grains are soaked in turmeric water and sun-dried to help retain the yellow hue of the turmeric.

For making a Dhaana Murti one have to tie each paddy seed with the help of two thin bamboo sticks placing parallel to each other at a minute distance sufficient to hold the paddy seeds tightly in a straight line. This is a very painstaking and repetitive job that requires concentration and great dexterity. Each and every seed of paddy has to be individually knotted. In this manner straight lines are formed with different coloured threads and kept ready for making different shapes. The length of each of these paddy garlands is approximately one yard. Artisans spent days to make the garlands only and 2-3 days more to complete a craft.