Heritage in every handcrafted detail.
Blue pottery is widely recognized as a traditional craft of Jaipur. The name ‘blue pottery’ comes from the eye-catching blue dye that is used to color the pottery. Some of the pottery is semi-transparent and most are decorated with animal and bird motifs. The pottery is made using Egyptian paste, is glazed and low-fired.
It is said that puppetry of Rajasthan is more than a thousand years old but there is no written evidence of it. Mainly the ‘Bhat’ community practices this art termed ‘Kathputli’ (‘Kath’ meaning wood and ‘Putli’ meaning doll). These people claim that their ancestors had performed for royal families and received great honour and prestige.
Much before cinema and animations, storytelling was in such forms that would bring the storyteller and listener together in their mesmerizing worlds of mythical heroes and gods. The Kaavad was one such method of storytelling. The Kaavad is a portable wooden shrine with many hinged wooden panels, which can be opened up to reveal visuals of Gods, goddesses, saints, local heroes and the patrons. It is crafted by the Suthar community of Mewar and narrated by the KaavaDiya Bhats.
Clay tiles with sculptures of gods and goddesses and local deities in hollow relief form, made flat on one end to be hung on the wall, Molela terracotta works are a regional art of Molela, Rajasthan. Made as a flat surface, unlike the usual idols made elsewhere, these plaques are brightly painted and unique in design.
The craft of mirror or glass inlay was first seen adorning the walls of the Mughal and then the Rajput palaces. It has since then moved on to be used in decorating dwellings of merchants and common folk, like in the Shekhavati Haveli’s of Marwari merchants and Kutchi mud houses.