Two very different metal traditions worked side by side across the country — Bidriware's blackened silver inlay from Karnataka, and Dhokra's lost-wax bronze figures from central and eastern India.
कर्नाटक, छत्तीसगढ़, ओडिशा, बंगाल · Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bengal
Bidriware, from Bidar in Karnataka, blackens an alloy of zinc and copper through a special local soil treatment, then inlays the surface with fine silver wire and sheet to striking contrast. Dhokra casting, practiced by artisan communities across Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, uses the lost-wax method, a wax model coated in clay and melted away as molten metal is poured in, to produce figures with a distinctive textured, threaded surface.
Both carry Geographical Indication recognition today, and both remain practiced largely by hereditary artisan families, passing technique down through direct apprenticeship rather than formal schooling.