The Wooden Door Decoy is an age-old artifact made by the Santhal tribe, which is one of the greatest and most colorful tribal communities in India. The Santhals mainly inhabit Bihar and have a rich cultural history, wherein the wood handicrafts testify to their artistic traditions.
The long wooden door decoys are engraved with lots of beautiful designs that impart a closeness of the Santhal tribe to nature and the spiritual values of it. The lower part of the decoy functions as a handle and is flat, plain, and elliptical in shape, thus serving both purposes. The simple handing design makes it easy to handle, while the upper margins are decorated in wave motifs, demonstrating the tribal people’s competence in crafting elaborate and meaningful motifs.
The engraved designs on the door decoy are often symbolic and derive from elements of nature such as water, plants, and animal life. These designs beautify the decoy yet also carry cultural values for the tribe concerning their interaction with the natural world. The Santhals are known for their wood carving, an art that is held in the highest esteem and is imparted from generation to generation.
The wooden door decoy is not merely used in an everyday manner but remains a witness and a manifestation of the Santhal cultural identity representative of their artistry, symbolism, and interest in daily life.