A Collage of Bhera's Woodwork: By SILWAT MUMTAZ  |
Wood Work of Bhera: Pictures by Zahid Mumtaz  "Once Bhera was an open museum of wood carving and part of the town can perhaps still be considered as such. Had the concerned officials in the Department of Archaeology and Museums acted a bit more conscientiously, they would have seen that the entire town is declared a protected monument under the Antiquitis Act. Had the staff of the concerned Department of the Punjab Government been active enough, they should have proposed Bhera to be declared a sanctuary under the Special Premises Act. And had our architects, town planners, environmentalists and conservators been alive to the situation, they would have taken appropriate steps to record and document the beautiful artisitic heritage of this city before the needy inhabitants and greedy anitque-dealers started pulling it down for decorating rich men's bungalows in bigger cities. But now we see Bhera's glory dying." Words of Dr. Saifur Rahman Dar, Director, Lahore Museum, on page 4 in his Preface to Crafts of the Punjab, Vol. III, BHERA. Punjab Small Industries Corporation, 1993. |
 Bhera has been very famous for its wood work. This art found expression in beautiful carvings on doors, mehrabs (arcs over the door), and wooden balconies (jharokas, chhajaas). An intricately carved door from a Bhera house has been on display in the Lahore Museum. The woodwork of Darbar Hall at Hastings Museum Art Gallery was executed hy Muhammad Baksh and Muhammad Juma, two carvers from Bhera. Extensive and exquistie carving on doors, mehrabs, and balconies was not limited to the houses of the rich in Bhera, but was also fairly common in the houses of those who were not not so well-off. |
WOODEN BALCONIES  |