Carpentry
Throughout the history Maldives is known for its in habitants’ skills in building boats out of coconut wood as their main livelihood until tourism was introduced is fishing.
The scientific methods used by the carpenters in the Maldives surprise even the most learned marine architects.
In the past Maldivians built their houses either with Coconut timber or out of wood.
The carpentry skills have been passed from generation to generation and even today with the use of modern machinery, they are proud that they never use foreign carpenters to build bigger and bigger boats.
Untill recent times Maldivian carpenters mostly used coconut wood as it is abundant in the islands and its curved trunks are ideal for shaping the hull of the boats without stressing it. The other woods used are also native such as ‘Kaani, ‘hirudhu’, ‘dhigga’and ‘funa’
The term ‘Kissaru ui vadan’ is used for carpentry involving curved forms mostly for boat building. Carpentry in house construction and furniture making is called ‘Thedhu ui vadaan’.