Wood carving (Patra)
Bhutan has a vibrant culture of patra (པ་ཏྲ་) or wood carving. The patra carving is seen during the production of architectural designs, furniture and many other wooden artifacts. Professional carvers known as parzos (སྤར་བཟོ་མཁནམ་) usually practice carving on wood for various purposes. It is one of the most popular crafts in the Bhutan. The basic fundamental carving starts from the eight lucky signs.
The wood which are used for carving include blue pine, walnut, cypress, and champ and a wide range of knives and chisels are used by the carver. Soft wood such as blue pine is preferred by carvers for easy carving but the hard woods such as champ and walnut are more durable. Today, many carvers use electrical router machines to do some of the carving.
Bhutanese carvers also carve designs and motifs on furniture. Traditional tables known as chogdrom (ཅོག་སྒྲོམ་) have carved decorative designs on three sides. High thrones and seats are also adorned with intricate carvings. The altar piece, which is kept in the family shrine in the shape and design of a miniature temple and called choesham (མཆོག་གཤམ་), is often made with many detailed and intricate carvings. Religious instruments such as stupas, phurpa (ཕུར་པ་) dagger and damaru (ཌ་མ་རུ་) handheld drums are also carved from wood. Musical instruments such as large drums and dramnyen (སྒྲ་སྙན་), flutes are also carved out of wood.
Wood carving is more than just an artistic craft in Bhutan—it is a living tradition that embodies spirituality, identity, and craftsmanship. It plays a crucial role in Bhutanese culture, maintaining a deep connection between architecture, religion, and artistic expression.
