ARTS & CRAFTS Location : Rural Hubs, Main Markets of Rajasthan. World Famous For : Blue Pottery, Tie-and-dye Fabrics, Block Printed Textiles. Antique Items : Marble Pots and Elephants, Ceramic Tiles. Other Charms : Jewellery – Precious and Semi Precious Stones, Quilts, Metalware.

Pottery work In Rajasthan

The Colorful Aura of Rajasthan - Arts and Crafts

The exotic spectrum of Rajasthan's handicraft heritage is a dazzling kaleidoscope of colors and textures. The depth, range and inspirational intricacy of this heritage stems from its socio-economic ethos, with whole village pursuing certain crafts, which are intrinsic to their survival or daily needs. Royal patronage gave it a vital impetus to carry the journey for centuries. Although Rajasthan is full of visual spectacles, perhaps the most lasting impression that visitors take away with them after traveling through this state is that of color. Despite the perpetual desolation of the sandscape enveloping the courtyards of Rajasthan, color reaches newer heights of luminosity and vividness at every pocket of the state. Canary yellows, emarald greens, vivid purples, electric blues and splashes of brilliant reds seem to be reinventions of traditional colors.

Fun With The Fabric - Famous Artifacts

Rajasthan is famous for its vibrantly colored textiles which adorn the sophisticated boutiques and prismatic art and craft bazaars across the state. The basic cloth receives one or several of various treatments to achieve its rich blaze of color, including dyeing, block printing and multiple forms of embroidery and applique. Visit Jodhpur to encounter the most intricate and interesting result of garment designing, the bandhani or tie and dye style of coloring. Basically parts of the fabric are knotted with minikin pebbles or grams, so that when the fabric is dyed, the knotted section retain their original color. Buy yourself a bright colored odhni (headscarf) featuring a lotus motif against a white or pink background. Remember, a yellow background indicates that the wearer has recently given birth to a bambino. Shift the gears of your car to reach Sanganer, near Jaipur, famous for its block printed fabric. Other handicraft items include the Sanganeri prints, generally featuring floral motifs, are exported round the world and is truly a collector's delight. Everyday, thousands of meters of fabric can be seen drying in long swathes on the banks of Saraswati river. Do you know that Sanganer entertains true hand-craftsmanship; garments are printed with wooden blocks known as buntis or chhapas, on which incisions form the elemental design, by one's own hand. The fruits of endeavor can be found in the form of colorful zig-zag motifs, featuring geometric designs in blue and red on both sides, known as ajrakh and is generally worn by men as shawls and turbans. Travel to Rajasthan to get one ajrakh for your loved ones, won't you?

After the cloth has been printed or tie-dyed, another layer of charm is added by embroidering or applying works of applique to the garment. Tour to any museum and you will get a hint about the superlative quality of embroidery work of Rajasthan, evident in the collections of richly brocaded royal vestments. And if you want to cherish the grand array of applique work, travel to the famous Pushkar Camel Fair, where ornately bedecked camels are a wonderfully common sight. The list is long. You can embellish the cloth as you like. Finely stitched tapestries bear motifs of animals and birds, chainstitched against a bold background or are garnished with tiny mirrors along the borders.

A Hand on Handicrafts Items

Rajasthan Potter

Apart from a wide range of textile designing, Rajasthani craftsmen are dexterous even with other channels of art; jewellery, paintings, pottery, ivory craft, and leatherwork. The history of painting in Rajasthan can be traced to the pre-historic period, as evidenced by the discovery of paintings in rock shelters in the Chambal valley. The popularity of Mughal miniature painting was translated in the mushrooming of styles distinctive to various regions of the state creating the Kota-Bundi kalam, the Marwar school and the Bikaner school of painting. Take a trip to Bundi to witness a curious array of miniature paintings of the late 18th century. A marvellous creation with half the surface left white, and just a few figures painted against this in pale colors; silhouette of artistry in the custard of paper. Remember, the Rajasthani painters used colors extracted from minerals, ochres and vegetables. The vibrant colors still evident today in miniatures and frescoes, seen in some royal palaces, were derived from crushed semi-precious stones, while the gold and silver coloring is in fact finely pounded pure gold and silver leaf!

Various arts and crafts of Rajasthan include the famous Rajasthan pottery tradition, that has translated into its various hues of blue pottery, a placard of the pink city Jaipur, and is made from crushed quartz, embellished with painted motifs in geometrics and nature's bounty in bright yellows, oranges and green. Given the paucity of wood in most parts of Rajasthan, it is not surprising that stone sculpture is more prevalent than wood carving. To twist the knife in the wound, Rajasthan is adorned by arid climate and white ants! Drive to Bikaner, an important centre for wood carving, to feel the talent of the woodcarvers in ornately carved doors and lintels, and particularly in latticed screen windows. You can also pick up Bikaner's famous gesso work (treated camel leather), incarnated in a wide range of boxes, lampshades and containers.