A craft learned in childhood
Ghulam Nabi Dar is a master artisan of Kashmir’s walnut-wood carving tradition. According to his official Padma citation, he began learning the craft at about ten, and added his own observation and a nature-inspired design language to its traditional motifs. Coming through hard times, he became not just an artisan but a guardian of an endangered craft.
Designs from nature
Walnut-wood carving is one of Kashmir’s most distinctive decorative crafts. It needs years of hand skill, a memory for patterns and an understanding of the wood itself. Instead of only repeating set patterns, Dar developed designs drawn from plants, animals and natural forms. His work won the State Award in 1984 and the National Award in 1995–96.
Passing it on
His craft has travelled abroad too: the citation mentions Baghdad, Germany and Liechtenstein, Indonesia and Thailand. He has mentored young carvers so that the skill carries on. The Padma Shri in 2024 honours him, and also Kashmir’s slow, handmade way of knowing.
Tradition and new ideas are not enemies; a new design language can keep a craft alive. And the true measure of preserving a skill is teaching it to the next generation.
Sources
- Padma Awards 2024: official citation
- India Today: Kashmir man honoured with Padma
- The Kashmir Images: Padma Shri for Ghulam Nabi Dar
- padmaawards.gov.in/Document/pdf/CitationsForTickets/2024/202447.pdf
- indiatoday.in/india/story/ghulam-nabi-dar-kashmir-man-honoured-with-padma-recognition-2494057-2024-01-26
- thekashmirimages.com/2024/01/27/craft-safari-of-hh-deptt-comes-full-circle-with-padma-shri-honour-to-ghulam-nabi-dar/