Taught by his father
Pandi Ram Mandavi’s art comes from Bastar’s forests, wood and bamboo, and from the craft memory of the Muria Gond community passed down for generations. According to his official citation, he was born on 12 February 1957 in Garhbengal, Bastar. His father was a skilled woodcarver, and from a young age he began learning to make wooden combs, flutes and other useful and cultural objects.
He later worked on wooden swords, battle axes, bows, walking sticks, arrows and special whistling bamboo flutes. According to The Indian Express, he could not study beyond Class 4; he calls his father the true teacher of his art.
A workshop in the village
His reputation is not only about his own skill. Through workshops and exhibitions he has taken Muria wood art to regional, national and international audiences. The citation says he runs a workshop in his village that gives a livelihood to about two dozen artisans, and his craft has been shown abroad, including in France, Italy and Russia.
Credit where it is due
The Padma Shri in 2025 gave national visibility to an art often dismissed as just “tribal craft”. When it was announced, he gave all the credit to his father, a reminder that behind many individual awards stand unnamed family teachers and a community’s knowledge.
Heritage survives when the artisan can also make a living, and when the next generation can learn the skill.
Sources
- Padma Awards 2025: official citation
- The Indian Express: 'All credit goes to my father'
- PARI: Carving a life out of wood in Bastar
- padmaawards.gov.in/Document/pdf/CitationsForTickets/2025/202597.pdf
- indianexpress.com/article/india/all-credit-goes-to-my-father-renowned-flute-maker-from-chhattisgarh-on-padma-award-9799417/
- ruralindiaonline.org/article/carving-a-life-out-of-wood-in-bastar