Block Printing

¤ Tracing of Prints on Cloth

Especially fascinating for foreigners is the printing of cloth with carved wooden blocks. Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Jodhpur and Bikaner in Rajasthan are the strongholds of this craft. The floral motifs favored by the printers of Bagru and Sanganer (Around Jaipur) are Persian in origin, though Sanganeri designs are more sophisticated. They usually have a white or pale background decorated with colorful twigs or sprays. The not-so-fine Bagru prints were initially meant for peasants and had a light brown background.


¤ Method of Printing

Rajasthan has a long and distinguished tradition of printing with finely carved wooden blocks. What you might have already seen in Delhi’s Rajasthali or Fabindia is merely the tip of the iceberg. Head for Bagru and Sanganer, not far from Jaipur, to see for yourself how cloth is printed by hand.

This method, though labourious, is actually quite simple and merely calls for precision. The cloth is laid out flat on a table or bench and a freshly dipped block is hand pressed on to the fabric to form a continuous, interlocking pattern. The block carries dye if the original colour of the cloth has to be preserved.

If the cloth has to be dyed, the block is used to apply an impermeable resist – a material such as clay, resin or wax – to demarcate the pattern that is not to be coloured. Later, when the cloth is dyed, the pattern emerges in reverse. Traditonally, block-printing relied on the use of natural dyes and pigments, but now synthetic dyes have gained currency as they are cheaper. If you belong to the green brigade, stick to eco-friendly naturally dyed cloth.

Blue Pottery

The art of making blue glaze pottery came to Rajasthan via Kashmir, the Mughal emperors’ favourite retreat and, more importantly, their entry point into India.


¤ The Art of Blue Pottery

The use of blue glaze on pottery made from Multani mitti, or Fuller’s earth, is essentially an imported technique, first developed by enterprising Mongol artisans who combined Chinese glazing technology with Persian decorative arts. This technique travelled south to India with early Muslim potentates in the 14^th century. During its infancy, it was strictly used to make tiles to decorate mosques, tombs and palaces in Central Asia.


¤ The Art Gradually Flourished In India

Later, the Mughals began using them in India, in a bid to mimic their beloved structures from beyond the mountains in Samarkand.
Gradually the blue glaze technique broke free of its status as an architectural accessory, and Kashmiri potters took to it with a vengeance.
From there, the technique rolled down to the plains of Delhi and in the 17^th century wound its way to Jaipur. The rulers of Jaipur were exceptionally partial to blue-glazed ware, and many a cool marble hall in Rambagh Palace has as its centrepiece a bubbling fountain lined with ravishing blue tiles. These tiles were also used extensively in the building of the splendid city of Jaipur but surprisingly, they disappeared soon after.


¤ The Foremost Art of Tile Making

The revival of tile-making began in the late 19^th century, and Jaipur became the centre of a thriving new industry producing blueware. The traditional Persian designs have now been adapted to please a more sophisticated clientele. Apart from the predictable urns, jars, pots and vases, you’ll now find tea sets, cups and saucers, plates and glasses, jugs, ashtrays and even napkin rings. You can spot blue pottery being made at Sanganer, not far from Jaipur, and also within the city at Kripal Kumbh, Shiva Marg.
The colour palette is restricted to blue derived from the oxide of cobalt, green from the oxide of copper and white, though other non-conventional colours such as yellow and brown have jumped into the fray too.

Indian Embroidery

¤ Mirrorwork

The women of Rajasthan and Gujarat traditionally carry embroidered torans (frieze), dowry bags, shawls, cholis (blouses) and dupattas as part of their dowry. This work can be identified by its use of tiny mirrors with colorful threads that shape floral and figurative designs. Its shiny brilliance makes it a hot favorite with tourists.


¤ Zardozi

Zari is gold, and zardozi embroidery is the glitteringly ornate, heavily encrusted gold thread work practiced in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir and Delhi. Of course, the days of using real gold and silver thread are now history. What you can get, however, is synthetic or ‘tested’ zari embroidery. Metal ingots are melted and pressed through perforated steel sheets, to be converted into wires. They are then hammered to the required thinness. Plain wire is called badla, and when wound round a thread, it is called kasav. Smaller spangles are called sitara, and tiny dots made of badla are called mukaish.


¤ Gota and Kinari

Gota and Kinari:- Akin to applique, gota work involves placing woven gold cloth onto other fabric to create different surface textures. Kinari, or edging, as the word suggests, is the fringed or tasselled border decoration. This art is predominantly practiced by Muslim craftsmen.


¤ Phulkari

Phulkari:- Embroidered extensively in Haryana and Punjab, the phulkari shawl is a spectacular piece of clothing. Birds, flowers and human figures are normally embroidered on red or orange khaddar (coarse cotton cloth made of handspun yarn). The design is fed into the cloth from the reverse side using darning needles and one thread at a time, leaving a long stitch below to form the basic pattern. The embroidery is usually done with silk or satin thread, in both a vertical and horizontal pattern so that when the phulkari is finally ready, the play of light on its shiny surface lends it breathtaking beauty.


¤ Bagh

Bagh:- The bagh is an offshoot of phulkari and almost always follows a geometric pattern, with green as the basic color. Green is probably predominant because Muslims have traditionally been doing bagh work. Although lacking in technical finesse, it makes up for the loss by a variety of colorful motifs. Simply everything goes into the design – elephants, houses, crops, the sun, the moon, gardens and even kites.


¤ Chamba Rumals

Chamba Rumals:- The red and orange richly embroidered silk scarves of Chamba are simply beautiful. They often depict scenes from the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Raaslila of Radha and Krishna. The embroidery is done in silk yarn on tussar (silk) or fine cotton. The ground is usually white or cream, but the embroidery threads (usually red and orange) are in striking contrast.


¤ Chikankari

Chikankari Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh is the hotbed of white thread embroidery on white or colored cotton. Intricate and complex, this work is similar to what is commonly known as shadow work. The beauty of the embroidery comes through on fine muslin cloth, where you can see the stitches forming lace-like patterns on the underside.


¤ Kantha

Kantha Bihar and Bengal are known for their simple embroidery called kantha which is nothing more than patterns traced in a running stitch with short gaps. Floral, animal and bird motifs embroidered on both cotton and silk are extremely popular.


¤ Crewel

Crewel:- Kashmir is known for phirans (woolen kurtas) and namdahs (woolen rugs) with big floral embroidery in cheerful colours. Crewel embroidery is the same as chain stitch, is usually done with an awl (a small pointed tool for making holes) and is worked from underneath the fabric rather than above.


¤ Banjara

Banjara:- The embroidery of the lamada gypsy tribe of Andhra Pradesh, banjara is a mix of applique with mirrors and beadwork. Bright red, yellow, black and white colored cloth is laid in bands and joined with a white criss-cross stitch.


¤ Kasuti

Kasuti:- Dharwar (Karnataka) is home to kasuti, a delicate single thread embroidery done on handloom saris. Motifs consist of temples, peacocks, elephants, flowering trees and geometric forms spread across the sari.

Glass Work

¤ Shellac Bangles

Brightly colored lac bangles are a gay and inexpensive buy in Delhi and Rajasthan. In the pink city of Jaipur, lac trinkets are a common sight in every bazaar.

Though Rajasthan is particularly regarded as the home of shellac work, Delhi isn’t too far behind. Especially when it comes to brightly coloured lac bangles. Do check out these dazzling bangles, often studded with glass gems, spirals of base-metal wire, foil and spangles amid a wavy striping of other colors. They make inexpensive but unusual presents for friends back home.

Golden Nakkashi

Bikaner is especially famous for its ancient art of Golden Nakkashi in the palaces of Bikaner and minakari on camel hide.
Also well known are the goldsmiths who do minakari (coloured inlay work in gold or silver), metal and wood crafters.

This art form, ancient art of Golden Nakkashi came to India from Iran via the Mughals, and later assimilated itself into Indian culture.
The city is also reputed for its textile printing, camel hide kupis (containers) and lamps, and you will even find table lamps shaped in the form of an ostrich egg. The Urmul Trust, a voluntary organisation is trying to revive some of these traditional arts.

Jewellery & Ornaments

¤ Indian Tradition of Gifting Jewellery

In India, a woman is traditionally gifted jewellery at the time of her wedding. The jewellery is from both her parents and her in-laws. The logic is simple. Apart from the obvious purpose of ornamentation, the jewellery is her safeguard against the proverbial rainy day. Bereft of an income of her own, she can trade in her jewellery as and when the need arises.

But this is not to say that the Indian woman does not like her ornaments well-crafted. Every market in India has its own share of gold and silversmiths. While gold jewellery is pretty much a favourite with the rich and the affluent, village belles swear by silver.


¤ Gems

Gems Many palmists and astrologers tell you precisely the clarity and carat required to ward off the evil eye or reverse a spell of ill-luck. Some of the good buys here are emeralds, sapphires, rubies, garnets, amethysts, corals and turquoise. The craft of cutting and polishing stones to achieve the most gleaming facets has been honed to perfection by the artisans of Jaipur and Calcutta.


¤ Gold

Gold- The women of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra are great sticklers for gold. This shiny metal is considered auspicious, not to mention a status symbol. Even the humblest bride down south has some gold in her trousseau.

Handcrafted gold jewellery is still very much the norm though machine-made trinkets are fast catching on. The major difference between the jewellery of north and south India is in the detail, delicacy and motifs. While north Indians think small is beautiful, south Indians certainly believe otherwise.


¤ Kundan

Kundan:- Delhi, Jaipur and Udaipur are famous for the age-old technique of setting gems in gold called Kundan. It is the Mughal-inspired art of setting precious stones like diamonds, emeralds and rubies in gold and silver. Gems are bedded in a surround of gold leaf rather than secured by a rim or claw.


¤ Meenakari

Meenakari Enameling or meenakari was originally meant to protect gold, which in its pure state is so soft and malleable that it can easily wear away. However, the technique soon came to be used for all sorts of objet d’arts. Now before you ask, enameling is a champleve technique, which in simple English means that a recess is hollowed out in the surface of gold or silver to take in a mineral. For example, cobalt oxide, which gives a blue color, is then fired into the depression so as to leave a thin line separating the segments of color. The patterns are usually floral and colored in red, green and blue and can be seen on small jewellery and kumkum boxes.


¤ Silver Jewellery

Silver The various kinds of adornments in silver are: tikka or the spherical pendant for the forehead; dangling earrings called jhumkas; hansli or the choker; nath or the nose ring which may be attached with a chain to the adjacent jhumka; a girdle or taqri for the waist; a series of bracelets called kadas; payals or anklets with tiny bells on them; and finally the chakti or toe rings of the married women. Also men of Rajasthan commonly wear chokers, earrings and bracelets too.
The designs are a lovely blend of Hindu and Islamic styles, as are the karigars (craftsmen) who may be Hindu or Muslim. Silver jewellery with ornate tribal designs is a big hit too. A relatively new addition to the repertoire is silver studded with semi-precious stones. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal and Ladakh are the most happening centers of silver jewellery.


¤ Threads, Beads & Cowries

Threads, Beads & CowriesThe intricate and artistic twisting of thread is itself seen as an embellishment by the tribal communities of India. They often weave cotton thread into a broad band as a textured or patterned base, then loop through buttons, beads, metallic droplets or whatever catches their fancy. Beads, shells, cowries and feathers are simple but amazingly creative means to adorn the body beautiful. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and the northeastern states of Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram top the list of makers of such jewellery.


¤ Bangles

Bangles add grace to the feminin beauty. Indian has an ample treasure of exquisite,colorful bangles, that does not match anything. Shellac Bangles Brightly colored lac bangles are a gay and inexpensive buy in Delhi and Rajasthan. In the pink city of Jaipur, lac trinkets are a common sight in every bazaar. Check out the dazzling bangles, often studded with glass gems, spirals of base-metal wire amid a wavy striping of other colors.

Leather Work

Rajasthan has a long history in leather craft and industry and leather shoes known as jootis or mojdis (shoes decorated with beautiful embroidery) are made in Jaipur and Jodhpur. Embroidery known as kashida is done on the jootis: in Jaipur it is first done on velvet which is then made to cover the shoes while in Jodhpur it is applied directly to the leather. This embroidery is mainly done by the women, who also does a bit of fancy stitching or appliqué work to give a designer look to the shoes that have neither a left or a right foot.
Leather is also used for bookbinding and Alwar is well reputed for this craft that flourished in the 19^th century under Maharaja Banni Singh. Bikaner is again famous for its kupis or camel-hide water bottles.


¤ Leather Work in Bikaner

Bikaner is also well known for the goldsmiths who do minakari (coloured inlay work in gold or silver), metal and wood crafters. Bikaner is especially famous for its minakari on camel hide, and golden minakari in the palaces of Bikaner. This art form came to India from Iran via the Mughals, and later assimilated itself into Indian culture. It was Raja Rai Singh, then ruler of Bikaner, who brought minakari to the city and accorded it royal patronage. Also reputed for its textile printing, camel hide kupis (containers) and lamps, and you will even find table lamps shaped in the form of an ostrich egg.


¤ Delhi Leather Craftsmanship

Delhi was also an important centre of leatherwork during the Mughal period, Traditional leather jootis and slippers, which were sometimes ornamented with pearls, gold and silver were the piece de resistance. Embroidered bags, shoes were other popular items.

Metal Work

¤ Tribal Metal Craftsmanship

The tribs of Madhya Pradesh make delightfully quirky figures of tribal deities, animals, swings and trishuls (tridents, a symbol of the Hindu deity Shiva) by the dhokra or lost-wax process (see Arts & Crafts of Madhya Pradesh for details). In their simplicity, the artisans work swiftly, spontaneously and without the encumbrance of a pre-meditated design. In sharp contrast emerges the more refined and studied work of master craftsmen who first cast the image and then chisel, file and polish it carefully.
But this is not the end of metal craft. Now comes the tricky and delicate task of decorating metal surfaces. Here are some of the techniques you are likely to spot while buying metal ware.


¤ Bidri

Bidri Named after the town it is practiced in Bidar (in Karnataka), Bidri work is often used to spice up the appearance of bowls, boxes, vases and caskets. Silver and brass are inlaid upon an alloy of zinc and copper which is blackened by dipping the object into a solution of copper sulphate. It is the contrast between the black surface and the shiny inlay that makes the object look dramatic.


¤ Meenakari

Meenakari Enamelling or meenakari was originally meant to protect gold, which in its pure state is so soft and malleable that it can easily wear away. However, the technique soon came to be used for all sorts of objet d’arts. Now before you ask, enameling is a champleve technique, which in simple English means that a recess is hollowed out in the surface of gold or silver to take in a mineral. For example, cobalt oxide, which gives a blue color, is then fired into the depression so as to leave a thin line separating the segments of color. The patterns are usually floral and colored in red, green and blue and can be seen on small jewellery and kumkum boxes.


¤ Tarkashi

Tarkashi The charming technique of laying fine brass or copper wire into carefully chiseled grooves in a metal or wooden surface. The patterns, an amalgam of Rajput and Mughal styles, are floral, leaf and creeper. They are engraved in the surface of the wood and then the metal wire is melted and poured into these.


¤ Thewa

Thewa Pratapgarh in Rajasthan is famous for its brilliant and intricate gold leaf work on red or green glass. The gold leaf is embedded in a cake of shellac, which is cut in the required design. The patterned gold leaf is then placed on the heated glass panel so that the gold fuses with it. Silver foil is often placed under the glass to give it a richer, more glowing look. Patterns may vary from floral to figurative.

Jaipur Miniature Paintings

Fierce camel fights; bejewelled women stretching seductively or in various stages of undress; midnight trysts of the divine lovers Radha and Krishna; Krishna painting a delicate tattoo on the breast of his sweetheart, Radha; the blood and gore of a tiger or boar hunt; the amorous dalliances of Rajput princes and the pomp and ceremony of the Mughal court - Rajasthani miniatures unabashedly celebrate every aspect of life. The paintings are a rich reminder of how both the regal Mughals and the proud Rajputs lived life in bold Technicolor.


¤ An Exquisite Blend of Mughal and Indigenous Indian Styles

A host of schools of miniature painting thrive in Rajasthan and, to a certain extent, they are a quaint mixture of Mughal and indigenous Indian styles. The Indian style dates back to the Jain manuscripts of western India, now preserved in the temples of Rajasthan and Gujarat. These manuscripts are inscribed on palm leaves and are illustrated with stylized miniatures, elements of which are obvious in the miniatures of today. If you examine these miniatures from the 11^th century, you’ll find that the human forms are far from proportionate as the figures were squeezed in to fit the long, narrow format of the leaves. Fortunately with the coming of paper in the 12^th century (thanks to the Arab traders), the miniatures were freed from this constraint.

Anyway, the long and short of it was that this style merged happily with the opulent Mughal court style and several distinct schools of Rajasthan miniatures were born: the Mewar or Udaipur school, the Bundi school, the Kishangarh school, the Bikaner school, the Jaipur school and the Alwar school. It seems that every little Rajput fiefdom worth its name encouraged its own unique style.
The Jaipur school, largely due to Jaipur’s friendly alliances with the Mughals and the patronage of Akbar in the 16^th century, remained rooted in the Mughal style though the artists pushed the boundaries back to include tales from Hindu epics and the escapades of Lord Krishna. Over a period, the Jaipur school evolved a distinctive Rajasthani style which retained the Mughal penchant for restrained colour and a sense of place in the background.

Paper Crafts

¤ An Age-Old Art

The paper making industry in the Kagazi Mohulla area of Sanganer (Around Jaipur) uses up the waste cotton and silk rags from the block printing industry.

The artists in the village are used to enthusiastic visitors and their questions, so those interested in the craft are welcome to ask the craftspersons all about it.
The craftspersons are the descendents of those who, for generations, have been making paper for the Mughals and Rajputs.
Then came the British, and with them the age of mill-made paper. Thus the craft received a big blow in the 18^th century. But the dedicated craftspersons of Sanganer stuck to their artistic profession in spite of dire poverty.


¤ Expertise Artisans

Salim Kagazi happens to be of one such family whose Handmade Paper and Board Industries on Gramudyog Road is a flourishing concern. A. L. Paper House is another big name for paper and paper products. So get yourself loads of this handmade paper, for you'll never get anything like them anywhere.


¤ The Crafts Made Out of Paper

There’s a lot you can do with paper and Delhiites have been doing it for a long period of time.

Kites : You might have seen kites but there’s a whole lot more on offer. Starting with kites then, you can find them in the patang (kite) market in Lal Kuan bazaar in Old Delhi. These colourful, feather-light kites come in all shapes and sizes – and so they should, after all, flying kites is an important national pastime.

Tazia : is the next most popular paper craft. A commemorative paper structure, it consists of coloured bits of paper pasted on a bamboo frame and carried in the Moharram procession (mourning to mark the martyrdom of the Prophet’s son). Tazias are used for a happy purpose too during the Phoolwalon ki Sair held every September.

Effigy-making : Another papercraft that takes a lot of doing is effigy-making. Effigy-makers have it really good when the Hindu festival of Dusshera comes round. Huge effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkarna and Meghnad (the three bad guys from epic Ramayana) are laboriously erected and then burnt on Dusshera to uphold the victory of truth and justice.

Papier-Mache

The lovely valley of Kashmir is perhaps best known for the craft of papier-mâché which was brought to it by a Kashmiri prince who spent years in a prison at Samarkand in Central Asia. Soaked waste paper, cloth, rice straw and copper sulphate are kneaded into a pulp which is then pressed on to clay, wood or metal moulds. Once it solidifies, it is coated with a white layer of gypsum and glue and then rubbed smooth. Finally the piece is sandpapered and painted with colorful Persian floral motifs.

Terracotta

¤ Indian Pottery

Potters pottering about on their wheel and fashioning all kinds of pitchers and earthenware are a common sight in India. While pottery for daily use – like gharas (water pots), surahis (pitchers), diyas (lamps) and gamlas (flower pots) – is made all over India, certain areas specialize in a particular type. There are different types of pottery you are likely to see in shops.


¤ Destination Famous For Terracotta Art

Perhaps the most common form of pottery in India, terracotta pops up in almost every state. Votive figures of elephants, serpents, birds and horses are made in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and the Jhabua and Bastar regions of Madhya Pradesh. Quite similar to these are the horses of Darbhanga in Bihar which are painted in bright rainbow colors once they are made. Another place known for its magnificent, six-metre high terracotta horses is Tamil Nadu.

Terracotta panels and storage jars painted white and decorated with tiny mirrors are common in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Molela in Rajasthan excels in sculpted terracotta plaques and icons of Rajput heroes and Hindu deities.

Orissa and Madhya Pradesh have a charming tradition of decorative roof top tiles, made partly by hand moulding and partly on the wheel. These tiles, shaped like half tubes, have perched on top of them figures of elephants, monkeys, bears, reptiles, gods and goddesses and are considered a status symbol among the rural people.

The terracotta pottery of Madhya Pradesh is simply remarkable, especially that practiced by the tribals of Bastar. Traditional statues of elephants, serpents, birds and horses from Bastar are incomparable in their simplicity and are offered to the local deity as an offering in lieu of sacrifice. The Bhils of Jhabua and adjacent Chhota Udaipur in Gujarat also trust in animal offerings made from clay. Their potters mould distinctive clay horses, camels, elephants, tigers and bullocks that are then offered to a village deity or to a revered animal itself such as the tiger. Set down in the sacred grove that always lies in a secluded spot near the settlement, the terracotta animals are clustered together in a jumble of new and old, all eventually disintegrating and returning to the earth in their turn.

Sarguja, Raipur and Raigarh have a charming tradition of decorative roof top tiles, made partly by hand moulding and partly on the wheel. These tiles, shaped like half tubes, have perched on top of them figures of elephants, monkeys, bears, reptiles, gods and goddesses and are considered a status symbol among the rural people.

Tribal Arts

The Pre-historic paintings in the cave shelters of Bhimbetka and Pachmarhi are simple designs showing scenes of hunting, farming and dancing against mottled rock and were initially done in black or earth colors. The palette soon expanded to include white, red, yellow, blue and green. This progression can clearly be seen in the wall art of Bhimbetka.


The tradition of painting living spaces continued well into the 20^th century till it was finally overtaken by the Western practice of painting walls a boring old pastel. Art slowly began to jump off the walls and on to palm leaves, wood blocks, cloth and ivory. As you read up more about painting in India, you’ll find that it was entirely dependent on religious and royal patronage. This is perhaps why ‘art’ became a big thing only during the reign of the Mughals. The Delhi Sultanate was too philistine to understand anything but the language of the sword. They probably thought heads impaled on spears were the best exhibit money could buy.


¤ The kinds of paintings you are likely to encounter in India are

Alpana (Bengal), Kolam (South India), Rangoli (Maharashtra), Osa (Orissa), Aripana (Bihar), Sona Rakhna (Uttar Pradesh), Sathiya (Gujarat) are all names for auspicious, multi-colored floor decorations made by Hindus all over the country. Usually drawn at the doorway of a home, they can be geometric or floral and are done afresh every morning.

Wall Paintings

The art of painting in India goes back to prehistoric times. The Pre-historic paintings in the cave shelters of Bhimbetka and Pachmarhi are simple designs showing scenes of hunting, farming and dancing against mottled rock and were initially done in black or earth colors. The palette soon expanded to include white, red, yellow, blue and green. This progression can clearly be seen in the wall art of Bhimbetka. Drawings on walls of caves and rock shelters served a twofold purpose: decorating homes and appeasing deities. While the adivasis (tribals) of yore traced simple, very basic forms to ward off evil spirits and disease, more sophisticated art survives in the Buddhist rock-carved monasteries of the middle of the first millennium AD, such as Ajanta in Maharashtra and Bagh in MP.


¤ Deity- Wall Paintings

The Rathwa Bhils of MP and eastern Gujarat commonly install a deity in the form of a ritual wall painting within the home. Outside the sacred enclosure other paintings depict incidents from daily life, usually featuring horses.
The Bhils and Bhilala tribes of Madhya Pradesh paint myths related to creation called pithora paintings. Horses, elephants, tigers, birds, gods, men and objects of daily life are painted in bright multicoloured hues.
Mughal miniature paintings also figure as a footnote in MP because the Persians of the court of Malwa were enthusiastic patrons.


¤ Mandana

Auspicious wall paintings of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, mandanas are meant to protect the home and hearth as well as to welcome gods into the house. Mud and cow dung are usually plastered on the walls which are then painted white. The women of the house paint symbols like the swastika, the sun or the tree of life in black and red. Auspicious diagrams are drawn on the floor with rice paste, coloured powder, flower petals or grains of rice, often with symbolic motifs set within floral and geometric patterns.


¤ Madhubani

Traditionally painted on walls and floors by the women of Bihar to invoke divine protection, the humble Madhubani has come a long way. Scenes from Hindu epics, fertility symbols, auspicious birds and beasts are daubed on walls with the paste of newly harvested rice. In recent times, however, Madhubani artists have been selling their work commercially by putting paper, pen and colors to good use. Full of intense energy and bright colors, they are extremely popular with foreign tourists.


¤ Warli Paintings

These are the tribal paintings of Maharashtra and are traditionally done in the homes of the Warlis. Painted white on mud walls, they are pretty close to prehistoric cave paintings in execution and usually depict sowing and harvesting scenes. Originally made with rice paste, they were turned into a marketable commodity when the India Handicrafts and Handlooms Board provided the poor Warlis with brown paper and white paint.

Woodcarving

¤ Exquisite Woodcarvings in India

In the good old days of kings and nawabs, woodcarving was essentially seen as an adjunct to architecture. Any palace or haveli worth its name had to have incredibly carved doors, windows and jalis (lattice work). The Mysore Palace and the havelis of Old Delhi, Kashmir and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan are a good example of such work. In recent times architectural commissions have dwindled to nothing. Consequently, artisans have turned their hand to more commercially viable options like artifacts, wooden plaques and furniture for urban homes. Master craftsmen can, however, still be found in the states of Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

Bandhani or Tie and Dye

¤ The Craft Displayed On Attire

The people of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh make up with the brilliancy of their clothes for what the terrain lacks in color. Cotton or silk cloth is tied into sections to exclude the dye to achieve a two-color effect. For a more intricate design, different sections are tied at every stage of dyeing and a variety of colors used. Thereafter, the fabric opens out into amazing designs: dots, circles, squares, waves and stripes.


¤ Tie and Dye Technique

As the name suggests, the technique of Tie and Dye involves two stages: tying sections of a length of cloth (silk or cotton) and then dunking it into vats of colour. The rainbow-tinged turbans of the Rajputs and the odhnis of their women are shaded by this method of resist dyeing. Your visit to Jaipur won’t be complete without a trip to the nearby towns of Bagru and Sanganer, where you can observe the Chhipa community of dyers at work.


¤ The Main Color Used

The main colours used in Bandhani are yellow, green, red and black. It is essentially a household craft supervised by the head of the family. The fabric is skillfully knotted by the women, while the portfolio of dyeing rests with the men. The women often grow a long nail on the little finger of the left hand, or wear a ring with a little blunt spike on it, with which they push the cloth upwards to form a tiny peak.

The Jaipur dyer rarely works with more than two dye baths while the additional colours are spot dyed, which makes the process much easier. Thereafter, the fabric opens out into amazing designs in kaleidoscopic colours: dots, circles, squares, waves and stripes.


¤ The Laheriya or Ripple Effect On Fabric

The laheriya or the ripple effect is achieved by a variation of this technique. Lengths of permeable muslin are rolled diagonally from one corner to the opposite, bound tightly at intervals and then dyed. The ties are then undone and the process repeated by diagonally rolling the adjacent corner toward the opposite and repeating the process. Both Jaipur and Jodhpur are major centres of laheriya. Jaipur in particular, thanks to its status as the state capital, has girt its loins to meet the extensive demands of both the domestic and export markets.

Tie and dye cloth is never too expensive but be warned that the colours always run. So if you’ve bought silk, it’s safer to get it dry-cleaned.

Beads, Threads & Cowries

Beads, Threads & Cowries

The intricate and artistic twisting of thread is itself seen as an embellishment by the tribal communities of India. They often weave cotton thread into a broad band as a textured or patterned base, then loop through buttons, beads, metallic droplets or whatever catches their fancy. Beads, shells, cowries and feathers are simple but amazingly creative means to adorn the body beautiful.

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and the northeastern states of Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram top the list of makers of such jewellery.

Find more about the magnificent bead jewelleriers embellished with diverse variety of beads like glass beads, gold beads, bone beads, crystal beads and gemstone beads.

Cane and Bamboo Work

Cane and Bamboo Work

You are bound to spot vendors selling window screens made of bamboo slats and tied with plain or coloured string in designs all over northern India. These are called chiks. Chikwalas or makers of such screens can be seen in and around the city. Delhi also happens to be an important centre for chairs and stools made of the tall golden-white sarkanda grass, which grows in large abundance in this area.


¤ Basket and Mat Weaving

Across the length and breadth of the country, basket and mat weaving depends solely on what grows locally. Tamil Nadu has bamboo, coconut, date and palm leaves, Rajasthan has reeds, Ladakh has willow, Bihar has the local grass called sikki, and Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have the sarkanda grass. Villagers often make fodder containers, fish baskets, trinket boxes, modhas (stools), chattais (mats) and grain-threshing trays for themselves while the domestic surplus finds its way to the local haat (weekly village market).

Carpets and Dhurries

¤ Carpets

Carpet weaving is an important trade for the merchants of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Kashmir. You can also pick up Tibetan carpets with Buddhist motifs in Himachal Pradesh. Both woolen and silk carpets make excellent buys.


¤ Dhurries

Dhurrie, the poor man’s carpet, is suddenly in vogue all over the world. Earlier relegated to being an underlay for expensive carpets or sandwiched between the wooden frame and mattresses of a bed, it now occupies place of pride in many crystal-flaunting drawing rooms. These flat woven cotton rugs are made on primitive ground looms in the villages of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (Agra and Fatehpur-Sikri), Coimbatore and Salem.


¤ Rugs

The people of Himachal and Kashmir weave the wool and hair of sheep and goat into traditional rugs called namdas (heavy rugs). Usually cream in color, Namdas are made with beaten wool and are later embroidered in bright colors.


¤ Carpet Weaving

Carpet weaving came into prominence during the Mughal era, when Akbar brought Persian weavers to India. The main centres of carpet-making were Srinagar, Lahore, Amritsar, Sind, Multan, and Allahabad. Delhi however was a centre for the production of Herati carpets (designed after the style of those made in Herat, Afghanistan) at one time. Known for their harmonious colours, the design of these carpets was kind of standard. The border was usually a broad band separated from the centre and edged on the outer side by one or two narrow bands filled with bold and conventional flower designs.

Paintings

¤ Cave Paintings

Bhimbetka and Pachmarhi Designes
The Pre-historic paintings in the cave shelters of Bhimbetka and Pachmarhi are simple designs showing scenes of hunting, farming and dancing against mottled rock and were initially done in black or earth colors. The palette soon expanded to include white, red, yellow, blue and green. This progression can clearly be seen in the wall art of Bhimbetka.

The tradition of painting living spaces continued well into the 20^th century till it was finally overtaken by the Western practice of painting walls a boring old pastel. Art slowly began to jump off the walls and on to palm leaves, wood blocks, cloth and ivory. As you read up more about painting in India, you’ll find that it was entirely dependent on religious and royal patronage. This is perhaps why ‘art’ became a big thing only during the reign of the Mughals. The Delhi Sultanate was too philistine to understand anything but the language of the sword. They probably thought heads impaled on spears were the best exhibit money could buy.
The kinds of paintings you are likely to encounter in India are:

Alpana
(Bengal), kolam (South India), rangoli (Maharashtra), osa (Orissa), aripana (Bihar), sona rakhna (Uttar Pradesh), sathiya (Gujarat) are all names for auspicious, multi-colored floor decorations made by Hindus all over the country. Usually drawn at the doorway of a home, they can be geometric or floral and are done afresh every morning.

Kalamkari
The technique of painting cloth with a pointed bamboo kalam or pen, Kalamkari is almost an industry in Andhra Pradesh. Black outlines of the pattern are painted onto the cloth which is then given other colors like yellow, blue and green. Motifs may range from traditional (Hindu deities, the sun, flowers) to present-day (Biblical, even corporate logos). However, most of the Kalamkari work you see today is a mix of printed and pen work and is generally aimed at the home furnishing market.

Mandana
Auspicious wall paintings of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, mandanas are meant to protect the home and hearth as well as to welcome gods into the house. Mud and cow dung are usually plastered on the walls which are then painted white. The women of the house paint symbols like the swastika, the sun or the tree of life in black and red.

Madhubani
Traditionally painted on walls and floors by the women of Bihar to invoke divine protection, the humble Madhubani has come a long way. Scenes from Hindu epics, fertility symbols, auspicious birds and beasts are daubed on walls with the paste of newly harvested rice. In recent times, however, Madhubani artists have been selling their work commercially by putting paper, pen and colors to good use. Full of intense energy and bright colors, they are extremely popular with foreign tourists.

¤ Mughal & Rajput Miniatures

Fierce camel fights; bejeweled women; the blood and gore of a tiger hunt; the amorous dalliances of Rajput princes and the pomp and ceremony of the Mughal court – miniatures unabashedly celebrate every aspect of life. Most of them use natural colors derived from insects, shells, minerals, vegetable matter as well as silver and gold leaf. Using the finest squirrel hairbrushes, it takes a miniaturist weeks to complete a commission. The artist’s lack of originality – most of them merely replicate the work of their forefathers – is more than compensated for by their breathtakingly precise and detailed workmanship. Jaipur, Udaipur, Bikaner in Rajasthan; Chamba and Kangra in Himachal Pradesh; and Delhi are some of the most happening centers of miniature art.

Phad
A phad is a long rectangular cloth painting that tells of the adventures and travails of some local or epic hero. They have been used for centuries as a backdrop by bhopas or the bards of Rajasthan who go from village to village singing about the exploits of legendary heroes. Usually about five metres by one and a half metres in size, the phad is painted in bold colors and is rolled on two shafts of bamboo, thus making it easy to carry.

Pichvai
The pichvai (literally, ‘something at the back’) unfolds scenes from the life of the Hindu deity Lord Krishna and is used as a backdrop for his idol at the Nathdwara Temple, near Udaipur, Rajasthan. Like many other forms of painting, the pichvai too has made its transition from the religious to the secular – they make colorful decorative hangings in urban homes.

¤ Thanjavur Paintings

Highly ornate paintings from down South (Thanjavur and Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu), Thanjavur paintings flourished under the reign of the Maratha kings. They usually depict the plump and mischievous baby Balkrishna and rely on intricate gesso (plaster of Paris mixed with glue applied to a surface and then painted or gilded), gold leaf and jewel work on wood to catch the buyer’s eye.


¤ Warli Paintings

These are the tribal paintings of Maharashtra and are traditionally done in the homes of the Warlis. Painted white on mud walls, they are pretty close to prehistoric cave paintings in execution and usually depict sowing and harvesting scenes. Originally made with rice paste, they were turned into a marketable commodity when the India Handicrafts and Handlooms Board provided the poor Warlis with brown paper and white paint.