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Handicrafts in Jaipur are famous throughout world for their distinctive quality and exclusive variety. Due to this fact, Jaipur is also recognized as crafts capital of India. They also have a huge international demand.
Stone Carving & Sculpture
The heart of this industry lies in the southwest quarter of Jaipur. Till the royalty held sway in India, stone carving received ample patronage in the form of architectural commissions. This royal city offers the world-class quality of marble work with intricate carvings. In fact, when founding the city of Jaipur, Sawai Jai Singh earmarked a whole lane for stone carvers, naming it Silawaton ka Mohalla. Some of Jaipur’s best showpieces are the latticework in the City Palace; the sandstone carvings and ornamental stonework at the Hawa Mahal and the Amber Fort gateways.
The sculptured articles range from Gods and Goddesses to animals and human figures. Sometimes, they also transform stone into poetry. The carvings and portraits, shaped in Jaipur, procure a great admiration everywhere.
In marble work, you can see the Marble statues of Hindu deities, animals, Human figurines, carved marble bowls and exquisite vases. These are some of the best buys in Jaipur markets.
Metal Work
Jaipur has a decent variety of metal work and it is famous for its brass work White metal craft.
The brass workers of Jaipur are skilled in infusing charisma into the dull metal. Lacquered brass and carved brass are two kinds of work that are done on brass in Jaipur.
White metal is used to craft icons, secular figures, animal forms, ‘mandaps’, ‘puja’ utensils etc. Some items such as jewelry boxes, candle stands etc. mimic the mellow look of silver and are beautifully chased with ‘Mughul’ style floral motifs.
Gem Painting
Crushed gems are fixed on classic Rajasthan miniature paintings as well as paintings of gods and goddess to create stunning images. Crushed gem paintings is a relatively woven a new craft form and is used for the lids of jewelry boxes, trays etc.
Jewelry
Jaipur is well known for its Kundan, Jadau and Silver Jewellery. Let’s have a look at them.
Gems, Kundan, Meenakari& Jadau Jewellery
The Pink City is known for its vast array of precious and semi-precious stones, running the gamut from diamond, emerald, sapphire and ruby to topaz, jade, garnet, amethyst and turquoise.
The special techniques practiced in Jaipur – kundan, jadau and meenakari – are equally intricate and splendid, and it is impossible to say which outshines the other.
Kundan is the Mughal-inspired art of setting of stones in gold and silver. Gems are bedded in a surround of gold leaf rather than secured by a rim or claw.
Enameling or Minakari work involves a laborious process wherein the piece is fixed on a stick of lacquer and delicate floral designs engraved on it. The Mughal fashion was to enamel the reverse side of jewelry to protect it from contact with the wearer’s skin. In Jadau the techniques of both kundan and enameling are combined so that a piece of jewelry has equally beautiful surfaces: kundan set in gems in front and exquisite enamel work on the reverse.
Silver Jewelry
In Jaipur, one can find silver jewelry makers and exporters near the Badi Chaupad in Johari Bazaar. Ornate tribal designs, geometric patterns and filigree work are much in demand. A relatively new addition to the repertoire is silver studded with semi-precious stones. Apart from jewelry, one can also find little silver boxes, statuettes, containers, glasses, plates, bowls, pens, hand mirrors and gilt combs.
Bandhani or Tie and Dye
The Bandhani or Tie and Dye is one of the most famous items of handicrafts in Jaipur. 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 color.
Colored deep in yellow, green, red and black, it reflects the true spirit of life in Jaipur. The colors also come in dots, circles, squares, waves and stripes which are in deed very beautiful to watch.
Handicrafts of Jaipur also comprises of the laheriya prepared with muslin and rolled diagonally opposite to corners. 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.
Tie and dye cloth is never too expensive but be warned that the colors always run. So if you’ve bought silk, it’s safer to get it dry-cleaned.
Block Printed Textiles
Rajasthan has a long and distinguished tradition of printing with finely carved wooden blocks. The Jaipur Sanganer area in Rajasthan is famed for its block printing techniques. A special feature of the Sanganer prints is the harmony of various colors and designs as well as the hint of gold and silver in the prints.
Stylized sunflowers, roses and geometric configuration form the design language of the blocks. Earlier vegetable colors were used but today both vegetable and chemical dyes are used to block print fabric yardage, saris, salwar kurta sets, color garments etc.
This method, though laborious, is actually quite simple and merely calls for precision. Here, the cotton cloth is laid on a flat wooden surface and is hand pressed with a freshly dipped block in order to create a unique pattern.
Block-printed cloth is sure to fade too after a few washes. Once again, stick to dry cleaning.
Blue Pottery of Jaipur
Jaipur Blue Pottery is the art of making blue glaze pottery came to Rajasthan via Kashmir. During its infancy, it was strictly used to make tiles to decorate mosques, tombs and palaces in Central Asia.
It is perhaps the only pottery produced without the use of clay. 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. Now a day the base is prepared out of the material from which the slip is made. All the materials that go into the composition -- quartz, raw glaze, sodium sulphate, fuller's earth locally known as multani clay, all require the same temperature, and the pottery needs to be fired only once unlike other pottery. The slip does not develop any crack and is more impervious and hence more hygienic for daily use. Only the neck and the lip are shaped on the wheel. For doing the decorative work, the pot is rotated and the ornamentation is done with brushes made of squirrel's hair. Some of this pottery is semi-transparent and mostly decorated with arabesque patterns, interspersed with animal and bird motifs.
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. The color palette is restricted to blue derived from the oxide of cobalt, green from the oxide of copper and white, though other non-conventional colors such as yellow and brown have jumped into the fray too.
Tarkashi
The Tarkashi is yet another type of handicraft in Jaipur. Boxes, tables and trays in the curio shops having an inner outline of copper is commonly known as Tarkashi.
It utilizes burnished metal wire or tar set in the wood to create delicate geometric patterns. Onto a plain, dark shisham surface, a naqsha (map) of the design is glued. Then the outline is incised into it with the help of a chisel. Then with ribbons of 2 mm dimension is cut from a brass or copper sheet and then, it is finally glued to the structure in such a manner that it becomes perfectly even and smooth. A lick of polish and varnish, and the object is ready for sale.
Zari, Gota, Kinari & Zardozi
Zari is gold, and zardozi embroidery is the glitteringly ornate, heavily encrusted gold thread work practiced in Jaipur and a few other cities of India. Either real silver thread, gold-plated thread or an imitation which has a copper base gilded with gold or silver color is used for zari.
Traditionally made for Mughal and Rajput nobility, it has now been officially adopted as bridal wear by anyone who can afford it. The days of using real gold and silver thread are now history. What now you get, however, is synthetic or ‘tested’ zari embroidery. Zardozi, a more elaborate version of zari, involves the use of gold threads, spangles, beads, seed pearls, wire, gota and kinari.Zardozi work makes a garment quite heavy.
Jaipur Miniature Paintings
Miniatures paintings are intricate, colorful handmade illuminations or paintings, small in size, executed meticulously with delicate brushwork. The colors used in the miniature paintings were derived from minerals, vegetables, precious stones, indigo, conch shells, pure gold and silver. Many of the miniature paintings are based on ‘Ragas’ or musical codes of Indian classical music. Some of the noted miniature schools were those of Mughals, Rajputs and Deccan.The paintings are a rich reminder of how both the regal Mughals and the proud Rajputs lived life in bold Technicolor.
Miniature paintings were once made on a base of ivory but that’s all in the past. The use of ivory has been banned now in the interests of our wildlife.
Shellac Bric-a-Brac
Brightly colored lac bangles, hand mirrors, pens, pillboxes and agarbatti (incense) stands are a cheerful and inexpensive buy in 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 ware
Rajasthan has a long history in leather craft and industry and leather shoes known as jootis or mojdis 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 do 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.
Woodwork
The fine quality of woodwork in Jaipur embraces carved doors, windows, drawer chests, picture frames and mirror frames. The delicate handcrafted woodwork of Jaipur has an antique look as they are crafted on traditional lines.
The local markets along Jauhari Bazaar, Bapu Bazaar, Nehru Bazaar, Chaura Rasta and Tripolia Bazaar will provide you every handicraft of this pink city.