Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c9.8

c9.8

The most important profession amongst craftsmen was that of the carpenter (Takṣā) and chariot-maker (Rathakāra) who formed a separate class probably superior in rank and honour to the ordinary wood-worker. The carpenters were busy with making of sacrificial Yūpas (Vanaspati), pillars for buildings (Sthūṇā) and many kinds of wooden utensils as Droṇa-kalaśa, Chamasa and Soma drinking cups (Graha). We have seen that the art of the goldsmith had been highly developed in the Indus Valley and the Vedic age. The same tradition continues in the Sūtra period when the *Svarṇakāra* and *Maṇikāra* artists were called upon to manufacture many kinds of ornaments, e. g. ear-rings (*Karṇa-veṣṭaka*), circular pendants for necklaces (*Niṣka*), a special ornament called *Rukma* dotted with twenty-one studs and worn round the neck (cf. *Graiveyaka* and also golden chains; *Suvarṇa-sraj*).