Adilabad Dokra Metalwork
Tribal gods and grazing cattle, each one cast from a wax thread wound by hand.
Adilabad dhokra is unglazed brass sculpture made by the Woj (Ojha) community of the old Adilabad district in northern Telangana. The pieces are ritual and everyday objects turned into art: Hindu and tribal deities, humped bulls, elephants, peacocks, tortoises, dancing figures, oil lamps, grain measures and neck ornaments. Every surface carries a fine ribbed texture left by the coils of wax thread used to build the model, and because each clay mould is broken open to release its casting, no two pieces are ever identical. The brass has a soft golden colour and is usually left with the marks of filing and the casting channels only lightly cleaned away, so the object still shows how it was made.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Adilabad, Telangana
Also Known As
Dhokra, Dokra, Ojha metalcraft, cire perdue casting
Craft Type
Lost-wax (dhokra) metal casting
Practising Community
Woj (Ojha) metalsmiths, historically attached to Gond and Kolam villages
Materials
Beeswax and sal or dhuna tree resin for the model; river clay, rice husk and cow dung for the core and mould; scrap brass and bronze for the melt; charcoal for the furnace.
Known For
Woj-community brass figures of deities, animals, dancers and measuring bowls
Where It's Made
Jainoor, Utnoor and Sirikonda in the old Adilabad district; adjoining parts of Kumram Bheem Asifabad, Telangana
Time to Create
1–2 weeks for a mid-size figure, longer for group compositions
GI Status
Covered by the Adilabad Dokra / Telangana dhokra craft; not separately GI-registered
Process Steps
Making the core
A rough core roughly the size and shape of the finished object is modelled from clay mixed with rice husk and dried hard in the sun, so the final casting will be hollow and light.
Waxing the core
The dried core is coated with a warm paste of beeswax and resin, which takes and holds the impression of fine detail.
Winding the wax threads
Fine wax threads are rolled by hand on a smooth board and wound over the whole surface in close lines; this threadwork is what gives Adilabad dhokra its ribbed skin.
Adding runners and modelling detail
Wax rods are attached as pouring channels and air vents, and features such as faces, horns and jewellery are built up in extra wax.
Investing the model in clay
The wax model is covered in a first coat of very fine clay to capture detail, then in coarser clay layers for strength, and left to dry completely.
De-waxing the mould
The mould is heated over a fire so the wax melts and drains out through the runners, leaving a hollow that is an exact negative of the model.
Melting and pouring the brass
Scrap brass is melted in a crucible in a charcoal furnace and poured into the pre-heated mould in a single continuous pour.
Breaking out and finishing
Once the metal has set and cooled, the clay mould is broken away, the runners are cut off, and the figure is filed, cleaned and lightly burnished.
Technique Glossary
Dhokra / cire perdue
The lost-wax method: a wax model is encased in clay and burned out so molten metal can take its exact place.
Woj (Ojha)
The traditional metal-casting community of the Adilabad region; their thread-wound wax models give the craft its texture.
Madhuchhishta Vidhana
The Sanskrit-derived name for lost-wax casting, literally 'the beeswax method'.
Core (mud core)
The inner clay body that makes the casting hollow, saving metal and weight.
Wax thread (tiga)
Hand-rolled threads of beeswax wound over the model; each line prints as a ridge on the finished brass.
Runner and riser
Wax, later hollow, channels that let molten metal flow in and let gases and displaced air escape.
Investment
The layered clay coating built around the wax model to form the mould.
Patina
The surface colour of the finished brass, from bright gold to dark brown, adjusted by cleaning and waxing.
A Craft Through Time
c. 2500 BCE
Lost-wax casting in the Indus Valley
The 'Dancing Girl' bronze of Mohenjo-daro is made by the same lost-wax process, showing how old the technique is in the subcontinent.
Pre-modern
Smiths to the tribes
Woj families travel between Gond and Kolam villages casting ritual images, bells, lamps and ornaments in exchange for grain and grazing rights.
19th–early 20th century
A settled circuit
The Woj establish a recognised working territory across the Adilabad uplands, each family serving a cluster of villages.
Mid-20th century
Loss of patrons
Factory-made utensils and the decline of tribal ritual spending erode demand, and many Woj households leave casting.
1980s onward
Craft-centre revival
Government and NGO facility centres around Utnoor and Jainoor supply raw brass and market links and reposition the work as collectible art.
Present
A recognised regional style
Adilabad dhokra is sold through state emporia and design stores, its coil-thread surface treated as the mark of authenticity.
Did You Know?
Because the clay mould has to be smashed to get the casting out, every dhokra piece is literally one of a kind — the mould can never be reused, even for the same design.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.