Naqsh: The Art of Wood Carving in Traditional Houses of Gujarat

Through Naqsh, the author explores and documents exhaustively in detail the art of wood carving of traditional architecture of Gujarat. Traversing from the history of wood carving of India, the book investigates thoroughly the tools and techniques applied by the craftsmen working within the trade guilds. The main section comprises of the ornamentations (symbols, motifs and patterns) witnessed on the traditional wooden houses, which are categorized and analyzed in terms of its aesthetics, its occurrence in time and its physical and symbolic relation to the house. The author then establishes its links and connections to the examples found in other cultures and explains the dissemination of this art.