Wood carving in India has existed since ancient times, and the ancient wooden carved temples of Uttar Pradesh are testament to this. Although sheesham is the most widely used wood, mango, walnut, deodorized, ebony and sandalwood are also used. The art and architectural carpentry began as crafts in palaces and temples and evolved over time to become artifacts of everyday use. The raw material used for the Kashmiri handicraft wood carving is obtained from a walnut tree known as 'Doon Kul', which is cut only when it reaches 300 years of age. What sets this wood apart from others is that it is extremely hard and durable and is only found in Kashmir.
Carving is the most common technique used in wood carving and traditionally involves processing wood with hand tools. The basic steps are design, three-step blow removal (roughing, molding and smooth finishing), manual wrapping, sanding, and finally finishing and assembly.
