Abstract: The present paper has discussed the livelihood pattern of Malhar Community of Jharkhand. The study was conducted in five different districts of Jharkhand. The Malhar are well known as “Dokra artists”, Dokra represents a group of metal articles produced by cire perdue or lost wax techniques. Though today with modernization settling in and lifestyles changing with time, the Dokra metal craft is slowly fading away. The manufacturing process and its challenges have been investigated in this survey to understand how a craft becomes the identity of a group of artisans, how a craft is associated with a craftsman, and how craftsmen are associated with the craft. The study also illustrated that industrialization which creates new employment opportunities in an urban environment may not always lead to the artists' employment or gain.
