Art & Craft in Bhilwara

Bandhani or Tie and Dye
     As the name suggests, this technique 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.
The main colours used in Bandhani are yellow, green, red and black. 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.

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 and surahis) is made all over Rajasthan, certain areas specializing in a particular type. Jaipur is known for its regal blue-glazed pottery
Another hotspot is the village of Molela, 40km north of Udaipur, which excels in terracotta pottery, sculpted plaques and icons of Rajput heroes and Hindu deities. Black pottery, better sourced in South India, makes its mark up north in the district of Dausa, west of Jaipur. Nowhere as ornamental as its southern counterpart, this one is known for its minimalist and sleek forms.

Jewellery
      Jewellery-making was elevated to the level of an art. All manner of precious and semi-precious stones can be purchased in Rajasthan.Chunky silver ornaments with floral, geometric and religious motifs are favoured by both trendy city girls and peasant women. This jewellery forms an integral part of a village bride’s dowry.
The Rajasthani enamel artisan, the maker of meenakari jewellery, is also a notch more accomplished than the meenakar (enameller) of any other state. Sample the breathtakingly magnificent turban ornaments from the Jaipur treasury, enamelled in colours typical of the Jaipur palette: red, white, green, blue and yellow.

Paintings
      Rajasthan has an ancient tradition of art which began with the dwellers’ desire to escape the harsh landscape of the desert by painting the walls of their homes. Starting from the floral and geometric patterns in the humblest mud house, through the paintings on the havelis of Shekhawati, to the elaborate frescoes in Amber Palace, Jaipur, wall art has been honed to perfection by the colour-loving craftsmen and women of Rajasthan. A more portable form of art for all you tourists are the phads, pichvais and miniature paintings that, once again, in true Rajput and Mughal tradition, abound in colour and detail.

Woodcarving
      Woodcarving is traditionally considered an adjunct of architecture in India, as can be seen from the elaborately carved doors and windows of Rajasthan’s fairytale palaces and the fantastic havelis of Jaisalmer. Now, due to lack of architectural commissions, master-carvers have turned to making furniture, dowry chests, wooden panels and jewellery boxes. Barmer and Jodhpur produce the finest wooden carved chairs with woven-rope seats and exquisite jali or latticework on the backrest. The craftsmen of Barmer specialize in the art of wood carving, specially doors, roofs, cradles and tables.

Carpets
      The exquisite Rajasthani carpets are a popular item of export today. Raja Man Singh I of Amer pioneered carpet manufacturing in Rajasthan. When he acquired several exquisite carpets from Heart (Afghanistan) for his palace, he also invited artisans from there to train the local workers. Eventually Jaipur, Bikaner and Amer became the prominent centres of carpet weaving.
The designs are mostly Persian and Caucasian. The motifs consist of human figures, flora, fauna, landscapes and geometrics.

Puppets
      Kathputlis or wooden puppets are a common and popular form of entertainment in the villages of Rajasthan. The puppeteer is the storyteller who unwinds a folk tale or an episode from the Hindu epics - the Ramayana or the Mahabharata – along with the deft interplay of various puppets, each signifying a character in the tale. Unfortunately, puppet theatre in India is under serious threat from television and cinema, and it may soon be curtains for this animated style of amusement. You may not find too many puppeteers these days, but what you will find is that these well-crafted marionettes are up for sale and look quite sensational in urban homes.

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.

Miniatur Painting
     Miniature paintings of the finest quality continue to be executed in Rajasthan – both on paper and on large pieces of cloth. Different regions maintain their own style, known as different schools of painting. Some well-known schools of painting are Marwar, Mewar, Hadoti, Kishangarh, Dhundhar and Alwar.
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.

Block Printing
      Among the textiles, the block printed Dresses that are the most distinct. These techniques are now put to use in modern garments, bed-spreads and table-cloths. 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.