Palm Engraving Designs

This booth, also from Orissa, had some detailed work. Created from specially processed and dried palm leafs cut into the desired shape and size, the linear designs are engraved with a special stylo. Most designs I saw depicted Hindu myths or gods, with a few portraying animals of India. Once engraved, Lamp Black or powdered coal is applied on the leaf, filling in the etched lines. Some had subdued colors, created with vegetable dyes. Some of the pieces had circular designs stitched around the border, whose flaps you could lift up to reveal another god or animal.

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