When you take a land and fill it people who love celebrations and whose love for colours is unparalleled, even while it is sophisticated in its simplicity, changes are you will come across a range of art and crafts that meet with your particular needs. It isn’t an unfair assumption in the case of Rajasthan. The bazaars spill with produce, and there is a magnificent glow of colours that permeates the marts and spills over the people themselves. There is nothing that is subtle about it either. Colours dance on textiles and fabrics, glow in between gold settings, is woven into the threads of rugs and carpets; it is bountiful celebration where the range of materials at their command is put to amazing use.

Rajasthani crafts have emerged not as a decorative feature but as essential parts of their lives. They took their utensils and gave them shapes and forms that are pleasant to the eye; they decorate their clothes so that, in the dull surroundings of the desert they could lend colour to its barrenness; they wore jewellery and embroidered shoes; they make paintings to honor their gods and record historic events; they decorate their damascened swords with precious stones and wore amulets of gold to war.

The curious thing about Rajasthan is that the richness of its heritage is so extraordinary; it touches every aspect of their lives, and finds new meaning in the expressions of its visitors. While there are opportunities to browse and purchase literally everywhere you setup within the state, it may be interesting to also watch a jewellery at work in the studio, or a painter add the finishing touch to his work.    

Antiquities:
Though not all of them actually qualify as antiques, and many in fact are new, these are objects of daily use that exercise a fascination among most urban visitors. They can be found in small shops in places all over Rajasthan, as well as in large handicraft stores, and are part of landscape of the state. Of course, for most it would be impossible to think of ‘using’ then in their homes, but they do make attractive, decorative objects. Take the large oil jars for example; they are cylindrical, slim, and look like they’re straight out of alibaba’s adventure.  In Rajasthan, they are still using for storing oil, they shape appropriate for hitching on to a camel’s side. Often, these are also painted in the Pichwai style, with scenes of lovers. Made of iron, they are available in variety of sizes. While not a typical souvenir, in it is often bought simply because it looks attractive, or for use as a planter.

Similarly, various kitchen utensils, votive objects, even camel saddles from the basis of a discovery of objects that link the Rajasthani way if style with their immediate surroundings. 

Blue Pottery:
An art form that was not local to India. It has its origin in charming tale dating from the days of Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of the modern capital city of Rajasthan. The Maharaja heard of the kite flying prowess of two boys who, it appeared, added a quartz glaze to their string to strengthen it. On investigation he discovered that the traditional of quartz pottery was of Persian origin and invited the artisan to his atelier in Jaipur, and so began the blue pottery school in Jaipur.

Made of crushed quartz fullers earth and sodium sulphate and fired in kilns at high temperatures, blue pottery consists of hand paintings in various shade of blue. And more recently, of the additional of colours such as yellow, pink and green, to a range of pottery ware that includes tiles, vases, bowls, mugs, urns, doorknobs, even costume jewellery.

Since it survived in royal patronage, blue pottery almost disappeared from Jaipur, the only city where it is still made, but was revived as an art when Rajmata Gayatri Devi persuaded painter Kripal Singh Shekhawat to start experimenting with its form and colours. His effort bore fruit and, and today blue pottery is synonymous with the Pink city. Though there are several studios where blue pottery is now made, where few observe the traditional they need to be followed, though Kripal Singh’s studio and those of a few others, still survive. The designs are mostly floral, and reveal their Persian influence, though it is not unusual to find human and animal figures in the more experimental from that is evolving to the contemporaries the art.  

Durries and Carpet:
The Durry is the humble cotton carpet that was once spread under carpets, or beds and has only now been found to be an alternative to the wooden carpet. Even though it was used as an underlay, the Durry was woven on the village loom in vibrant designs and motifs. The simplest were in single colour with a contrasting border but the majority used geometric motifs and floral patterns in a mix of contrasting colours. Available in a variety of sizes, the Durry in woven not only in Jaipur, but in villages all over the state. In places such as Bikaner and Jaisalmer, where the temperatures can deep alarmingly woolen durries and not uncommon and use camel hair for the weave.

The rt of the carpet weaving in Rajasthan has been an ancient one. Initially, carpets were specially woven for the royal residence, and were specially ordered in vast size. Inspired by Mughal traditions, prisoners were employed at the looms, a tradition that has continued to date. Bikaner still continues to be famous for its so called jail carpets.
Carpets weaving have its genesis with Amber’s Raja Man Singh summoning weavers from Herate, the famous carpet centre in Afghanistan, to setup looms and train local weavers. No wonder the Jaipuri (and Rajasthani, for that matter) hand knotted carpet has so much in common with Persian carpet, especially with regards to geometric motifs and the formal design with a sense of borders and central motif. The colours of the Rajasthani carpet, though, tend to be more exuberant in keeping with the resonance of the land. Today, motif have been sufficiently localized include peacock motif and other local designs.
Few visitors note that another floor covering that has widespread use in Rajasthan is namdah or felted rug. Made in Tonk, it is decorated with embroideries, or in appliqué fashion. These can be used as wall hangings as well on floors.  

Leather ware:
The hides of dead animals have never been put to better use than in Rajastha whether as juttees and embroided footwear the people wear, or as saddles, bags and pouches, it is even used as bags for chair after is has been embroided with woolen motif. For comething so ordinarily functional , it is amazing how the leather, beaten, tanned and dyed, is given over to such consummate artistry. The leather is punched and gouged to create patterns, studded and sequinned for effect, embroided and stitched so that a pair of slip-on shoe becomes a ststement of style. These juttees are worn by people in villages and in cities, and the foot has to get use to them and find its own form. Which is why a pait that just fit can prove painful to wear the few days but after it has adapted to the fit for its wearer, can be part of the most comfortable footwear in your wardrobe. In cities, the juttes usually for sale are now churned out as tourists souvenirs and are somewhat less long lasting than they are otherwise can prove to be should you by them from a more reliable shop, or order them directly from a village. Cobbler who will trace the size of your foot on the piece of paper he will then proceed to cut the leather in an appropriate size, and stich up the juttee in the approved design, before handing it over to his wife who will fuss over it with thread and tassles to create just the pair you required.

Metal Craft:
The entire tradition of metal crafts probably arose from the warriors need to embellish his armour. His sword handle was probably damascened, the scabbared worked with gold and set with jewels, the dagger decorated despite its rapier sharpness, the shield and body armoured enameled so that he went to the battle fiels proud as a peacock. In later years the art of enameling become merely decorative and, in Rajasthan has been used for everything from table tops to wall plate flask, and for crafting object d’art, usually done with brass it has a tensile like quality unless the base iyself is heavy enough to carry of the work successfully. However, the silversmith does a better job with a range of statuary that is stunning once patterend into animal figures, an orchestra of musician, of caparisoned elephants with human figures atop howdah. These enameled silver pieces are some of the finest example of the jewelers and metal smith working together. 

Paintings:
You cannot travel anywhere within the state and remain oblivious to the master painters who, with the fine stokes of their squirrel’s hair brushes, creates such fine art. Principal ateliers are at Udaipur and Jaipur where miniature artists continue to create their incredible portfolio’s of scenes from myth and legend, as well as history. Though many now use synthetic paints, some still use traditional mineral and vegetable dyes while others import a finer quality of paint. It is also important to remember that though paintings on silk may look more attractive those on canvas are usually better because the artists can paint more dexterously on them. Whatever in the end, the colours come to life on these miniature canvases.

Puppets:
Walk around Hawa Mahal in Jaipur and it will require more than human effort not to be attracted by the arrays of puppets on display. The art of puppeteering has a long tradition in Rajasthan, but the puppet themselves are fairly simple creations. Mostly they consist of painted wooden heads draped with dresses made from old fabrics and sequined for charm. The hands are made simply by stuffing rags or cotton into the sleeve of the dress and filling it out. The most quaint aspect of these puppets is the way their expressions are painted, large expressive eyes with arched eyebrows and a curling moustache for men, or a nose ring for the women. Inexpensive souvenirs, they recall more easily than most other things memory of a visit to this state of chivalrous kings and beautiful queens.

Stone Carving :
Just as the wood carver uses his material with amazing elasticity, so too the stone cutter can craft images from the large variety of stones at his command. From Dholpur near Bharatpur to Barmer in the heart of the desert, the chisel of the stone mason is put to incredible use as he commands everything from pink and red sandstone to marble, Tamara and chlorite to crate panels of frescos buildings, large statuary, planters, figures of gods (usually in marble and crafted almost entirely in Jaipur) and elephants and horses as garden sculpture.

Terracotta:
In villages, the women still cook in terracotta pots over wood fires. These black, unglazed pots are rounded at the bottom so that they can sit between the arms of the stove and may be covered by a ‘laip’ or covering of clay, cow-dung and sand. Terracotta pots are also used for the storage of water for drinking so that the hotter the temperature, the cooler the water in the jars. While villages and towns all have a tradition of clay pottery, in Udaipur this has developed into a fine art. Here, potters use the clay at their command to create not just pots but also objects of art such as warriors mounted on horses, elephants and their mahouts and so on. Though these are difficult to transport, they are a tribute to the artists in Rajasthan who is able to fire clay not just with his skill but also with his imagination and creativity.

Gesso Work :
One of the finest crafts to emerge from Bikaner uses the inner hide of the camel. The hide is scraped till it has the consistency of paper, and is translucent, this is then molded into forms that range from lamp shades and frames to hip flask, perfume phials or vases. This is then painted over with fine gesso work using gold to lend richness to the otherwise bright reds and greens used in the work.

Fabrics:
Nowhere does the excellent craftsmanship come to the fore as splendidly as it comes to textiles. For centuries, Rajasthani printer has perfected his art, mixing his vegetable dies and the block printers, principally from Sanganer and Bagru, both suburbs of Jaipur, create, besides length of textiles for stitching up as dresses, the linen for which these regions are famous. The Sanganer print resembles the French Provencal, while Bagru’s brick and black bold patterns are eye-catching.
Principally, Rajasthan is known for its tie and dye technique in which fabrics are tied into small twists using thread. These are then dipped into vats with their array of bright colours to create a mosaic of patterns. Called Bandhini, these textiles are mostly used for sarees and odhnis, can be done in different pat-terns that are defined variously as chunari (dotted), lahariya (diagonal field of striped waves), mothra (larger dots) and other versions with more complicated patterns using a blend of these.

Furniture and Wood Carving:
The tradition of furniture is not a very old one in Rajasthan where the preference for western styles of seating were rare. In fact, even early durbars were held on large mattresses spread on the ground and covered with carpets and cushions for support.
Interestingly, then, what Is believed to be the oldest piece of furniture in the country still survives in Bikaner and is on view at the museum in Junagarh fort. Today, furniture can still be found in Rajasthan, is made in fact, so that it reflects some of its recent past. There is a whole tradition of made-as-old furniture in which doors and windows and even wooden jharokhas, table with cast iron jaalis as surface, side boards, chairs, benches, jhoolas or swings, dressers and more are made to resemble the furniture that was in vogue in havelis a hundred or so many years ago. Other pieces of furniture includes the painted chairs of Kishangarh, the leather embroidered chairs of Tilonia on the carved back, string bottom chairs of Shekhawati. Marble tops of tables are also popular and screens are available with both painted panels and brass embellishments.

Everything from Ganesha to dwarpals, or doorkeepers, can be found carved from wood, though the only factor to be determined are whether they use mango wood (not so good)or the local rohira wood (long lasting and termite free). A tradition also exists for sandalwood carving, which is finely executed with figures of humans and animals. On a more popular level, visitors will find everything from camels and horses to elephants and parrots that are carved in the round and then brightly painted, to carry home as momentos of this fascinating state.

Jewellery and Gemstones:
One of the largest centres of the world for the hand cutting of the gems, it is not unusual to find its shops full of piles of everything from onyx and cats eye to lapiz lazuli, carnelian, garnets, amethysts and topaz and on other end of the scale, rubies, emeralds and diamonds. A rose-pink quertz may be turned into an elephant, jade shaped into a Krishna figuring, and sun stone patterned as Ganesha, the great god of benevolounce. This is where the stone cutters art is brought to the fore, shaping a hard stone and giving it smooth, rounded edges while ensuring that no part of an expensive stone is waisted. A good deal of jewellery is worn by the people of Rajasthan ‘ the Rajputs preferring gold even for their feet while selver is favoured among the various tribes who tend to wear rather large quantities of it. On their foreheads and in their hair, on their ears and down their necks, on their wrists all the way upto their arms and around their waists, rouns ankles and on their toes, you will find the people decked up and this is the daily wear: on special occasions, therefore, thay can look quite stunning. The Rajputs have preffered to patronize the enameled form of jewellery that is known as Kundan, and of which Jaipur and to some extent Bikaner are major centres. Of course, even the most ordinary stones can be found polished in its many stores so that the choice and colours available are incredible. In no ther part of the world can you have the pleasure of picking up semi-precious stones in such fistfuls and in such variety.