An Introduction to Rajasthan Traditional Handicrafts
In our previous post, we have introduced History of Handicrafts. Now, let us delve into the Rajasthan Handicrafts. We will have a brief look into the various kind of popular Rajasthan Hand crafted Products.
Rajasthan – the land of forts and palaces, presents a picture full of colors, mystic jewelry, royal palaces, antiques, and above all the attractive, lovely, and flamboyant folks. Every stone of this land not only had a history attached to it but also tells us about the rich culture, art, and artisan work of its people.
The most vibrant state of India, Rajasthan is famous in the world for its hand crafted articles. Tourists who visit this state get attracted to these colorful articles and purchase them either for their daily use or to decorate their homes.
The craft of creating beautiful articles by mostly using hands is known as handicrafts. These articles are made by traditional methods with modern designs and techniques.
Rajasthan is the largest producer of hand crafted items in India and is well known all over the world for its art and crafts. The items include the famous textiles, carpets, and durries; gemstones and jewelry; marble and wood handicrafts, blue pottery and stone art; lac and brass items, etc.
The Handicrafts of rajasthan has a unique style in colors, patterns, and designs.
Let us have a look on various art and crafts of Rajasthan –
- Textiles
- Jewelry
- Pottery
- Stone Art
- Carpet & Durries
- Other Handicrafts
Textiles
Rajasthan is known for its excellent cotton fabric and for its hand printed textiles and tie & dye fabrics. Bagru and Sanganer hand block prints using vegetable dyes are world famous. Bandhej or bandhini print is one of the unique form of print using tie and dye technique.
The printing styles includes hand block of Sanganer and Bagru; several tie and dye techniques like bandhej, bandhani, laheriya, mothra, batik, ekdali, shikari and cheent. The vibrancy of state’s colours, weaves like Kota and khadi; as well as techniques like bandhej and laheriya are interspread with modern as well as traditional silhouettes to appeal to people of different generations.
Jaipuri lightweight quilts are most sought after item by tourists – both domestic and foreign. Rajasthan is also known for Patchwork and embroidery styles like Gota, Zardosi, and Banarsi for formal and bridal ensembles. Mirror work and embroidery on vibrant colored cloths are very prominent. All these use metallic and threaded embroidery.
Rajasthani Jewelry
Jewelry makes a woman look more beautiful and confident. Rajasthan has been the most prominent producer of vast variety of traditional jewelry. The jewelers here use gold, silver, gems and other precious and semi-precious stones in making very stylish and trendy ornaments.
The vast variety of Jewelry is available like Silver, Lac, Meenakari, Kundan and Jadau, Thewa etc. are the prominent art unique to Rajasthan. All are traditional as well as very stylish and hand crafted. The Rajasthani Jewelry is famous worldwide and attracts tourists from all over the world.
Pottery
Pottery is another famous art and is very attractive and fascinating due to its varied and colourful designs. Rajasthani pottery can be used for both decoration as well as in daily use (like mataka and surahi). The prominent centers in Rajasthan for Pottery products or likewise artifacts are Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Alwar and Bikaner.
The different varieties of pottery are:- Blue, kagzi, Glazed, Bikaneri , Teracotta and Pokhran pottery.
Stone Art
Rajasthan is famous for its wonderful stonework and marvelous architecture all over the world. Stone carving is the beautiful artwork of Rajasthan that can be seen not only in its different Forts, Palaces, Havelies, Temples and various other Heritage sites but also in the splendid art pieces. Marble, Granite, Slate, Quartz and Metamorphic rocks are the various stones available in Rajasthan. Art pieces made up of famous Makrana/ Kishangarh marble and Red stone of Karauli are exported all over the world.
The capital city Jaipur is the hub for stone artwork. Jaipur is also the largest centre for Precious and Semi-precious stones which is used for decorating stone artwork and in Jewellery making.
The other centres of Rajasthan famous for stone carving are Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur and Udaipur. The different items of stone art work are Idols, Statues, Utensils, Decorative goods, Stone chaukhats and Jewellery etc.
Carpet & Durries
The hand woven carpets (rugs) and durries of Rajasthan are world famous. Beautiful designs with trendy motifs are knotted to make the carpets. Jaipur, Tonk and Bikaner are the prominent centers for Rajasthani Carpets. In addition to this, durries of Jodhpur and Jaipur are also very attractive. These carpets are in no way lesser than the Persian carpets albeit the Rajasthani designs are completely different.
Other Handicrafts
Apart from these, Rajasthani Handicrafts also boasts of famous paintings, puppet making, wooden articles, wall hangings, kambadiya work articles like Ottoman Pouf, Floor cushions, Tapestries, Umbrellas, Beadwork etc. Patchwork and Thread embroidery is widely used in Home Decor items.
These hand crafted articles are inherited to the artisans from their fathers and fore fathers. In this era of digital and technological advances, the hand work is truly a result of artisan’s patience and dedication. The devotion of the family of artisan and somewhere entire village to create mesmerizing pieces of art is one thing which deserves acclodes and appreciation from everyone.
The Handicrafts of a location reflects the local culture and traditions. India being a diversified country is definitely front ranked when the world talks about the Handicrafts. Among the Indian states, Rajasthan is ranked at the TOP.
The vibrant and lively state of Rajasthan is aptly depicted in its arts and hand crafted items through its colors, designs and textures. The simple yet joyful nature of Rajasthani people coupled with royalty and valor is show cased in Rajasthan Traditional Handicrafts.
Keep watching this space for further insights into Handicrafts of Rajasthan.