Mysore, which is identical in every respect with that of Canara, from the town of Sorab in the Shimroga district. The most beautiful example of Mysore sandalwood carving ever seen in this country was a little cabinet exhibited by Major Puckle in the Annual International Exhibition of 1871. It was surmounted by a triangular headboard on which were carved Brahma and Saraswati in the centre, and Siva on Nandi on one side, and Siva and Vishnu coalesced in Krishna on the other ; the out- line of this headpiece being waved in a manner to represent the mystic trilitcral monosyllable AUM. On either side of it was an elephant waving a chauri in its trunk ; and below it a narrow border on which were carved Lakshmi, Parvati, Garuda, Hanuman, and other of the gods, all in a row. On the right door of the cabinet Vishnu on Garuda, with Lakshmi by his side, was represented in the centre, surrounded by the forms of his ten avatars ; and on the left door, Siva on Nandi, with Parvati by his side, was represented in the centre, surrounded by the guardians of the eight quarters of the earth, Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirritu (who in Madras always takes the place of Surya), Varuna, Vayu, Kubera, and Isana (who in Madras always takes the place of Soma). The sandalwood carving of Travancore is perfectly naturalistic in style, and Plate 61 represents a characteristic and unique example of it.
A little sandalwood is carved at Morahabad in the North- Western Provinces. Ebony is excellently carved at Bijnur, another town of the Rohilkhand division of the North-Western Provinces, and in a similar conventional style at Monghyr in Bengal. The designs on these boxes are generally geometrical ; and latterly I have seen them inlaid with ivory in the manner of the old Sicilian tarsia work.
The blackwood carving of Bombay, Ahmedabad, and Dholera, has already been mentioned. Teak for the beams and pillars, brackets, and door-posts, and the doors of native houses, is carved in the Rajapur and Deogarh talukas of the Ratnagiri Collectorate.
