Ali Usman Baig : craftmanship

07th March 2018

Wood has continued to be used in architecture throughout history and remains a popular building material to this day, thanks to its versatility, availability, and sustainable nature.

The city of Chiniot is renowned for its wooden craftsmanship, there are hundreds of shops and small factories present in every corner of the city, where state-of-the-art wooden furniture is manufactured. In the past, the Chinioti wooden craftsmen's name was considered a trademark all over the united Hindustan for crafting various structural and decorative elements of architecture made of wood.

However, the use of wooden craftsmanship declined with the advent of modern building techniques and materials but has since experienced a resurgence of interest as people have come to appreciate the beauty and durability of traditional wooden structures.

I came across one such residential building in Chiniot constructed of small-size bricks probably Lahori bricks (100 mm x 150 mm x 20 mm). At the entrance, an enchanting wooden door adorned with a decorative floral pattern on top of which three layers of wooden archivolt runs. The archivolt was complementing the surrounding outer band of arches constructed in bricks. Along this, a heavily crafted wooden arched window is present at elevation. In Chiniot this style of entrance door used to be common, and they called it “Saddar Darwaza” in their language.

The entrance further takes you to a quadrangle veranda, all four walls of which gave one the impression of visiting an art gallery adorned with embellishments and lime moulding elements. These elements enhance the appearance and aesthetic appeal.

The three walls of the quadrangle veranda have symmetry in design and a pattern sense of mathematics in each element. Each side of which has three wooden doors having wooden ventilators at the top. The wooden ventilator has two parts; a wooden frame inside of which has intricate carvings of floral mesh design. In Chiniot this is called “Gira ka kam”, a high level of hand craftsmanship, skill, and artistry required in crafting this. Nowadays computer-aided machines made this job easy.

Inside of wooden frame a glass consisting of several small pieces with different colors assembled in a floral design pattern, which looks ornately decorative. In Chiniot this is called “Shisha Kari”, a high level of skilled craftsmanship which is elegantly and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

Further to that each wall was decorated with several embellishments. A moulding in the shape of an arch and column was constructed probably with lime plaster framed around each wooden door and ventilator. On the crown of each arch, a flower can be seen, which is crafted in lime plaster.

There is another series of moulding that runs in the shape of the band at the junction of the roof and wall all around the veranda.

The fourth wall has a similar design of mouldings, however, instead of three doors, two windows are installed on each side, and in the middle wall, a fireplace is present.

On the vacant wall surface, sophisticatedly drawn mural work can be seen.

On the inner surface of the extended shade, a wooden false ceiling comprising several small parts was assembled and installed. Each wooden tile has a specific floral pattern in the middle.

I visited this place in 2018, the house was owned by the famous Sheikh family of Chiniot. The owner was an aged man, he shared his father was a famous businessman in Chiniot his businesses were expanded all over the united Hindustan. Of his siblings there were two elder sisters, who were married and living in Dhaka for a long, he did not marry and he was the only one left here; he was sad that who will take care of his father's property after him.

I started writing an article on this building in February 2023, almost five years after my visit to Chiniot. Today I called my friend in Chiniot just to inquire about the health of that man, he told me the aged owner died a few years back and now his house is locked from the outside.

The building was a “Jewel of Chiniot” a true specimen of craftmanship and artistry of Chiniot Workmanship. I don’t know what will be future of this building and how long it going to survive.