Shopping in Rajasthan

Rajasthan is among the richest state in India as far as the field of art and craft is concerned. The richness of Rajasthan is so extraordinary that it touches every aspect of life in the desert and semi desert of Rajasthan and finds new meaning in the expressions of its visitors. No matter whether you are here or there you will always find some kind of interesting arts and crafts in this colorful state. There have been collective efforts in remote villages of Rajasthan where cooperative societies have also been set up by non-government agencies to create opportunities for rural craftsmen to get the maximum benefits of their skills by making reach their products to the urban markets of not only in India but also other countries abroad. This is also one of the reason that local village products are available in the shops of big metropolitan cities today. It is true that quality of many of the handicraft items have got degraded to cater the demand of the tourists for the souvenir market. But at the same time this is supportive for the local market as some of the arts and crafts would have died without the tourists as the local people would not be able to afford some of the expensive products prepared originally for the rich and royals in the past. The history of Rajasthan also reveals that the kings and their nobles were patrons of art and crafts and they encouraged their craftsmen in activities ranging from wood and marble carving to weaving, pottery and painting. May be it was the result of the war which sharpened the creative senses, artistic skills which inspired the craftsmen of Rajasthan to create the most opulent and richest of treasures. Rajasthan has created and preserved rich craft heritage which includes fabulous fabrics in lovely prints, precious and semi-precious stones, Kundan Meenakari Jewellery, embroidered leather work, other hand crafted items of wood, ivory, lac, glass, brass, silver and gold. Some of the popular crafts of Rajasthan are Antiques, Blue Pottery, Carpets, Fabrics, Furniture, Leather ware, Jewellery and Gem Stones, Metal Crafts, Paintings, Puppets and Teracotta items.

For centuries, the printers in Rajasthan has perfected the art of mixing vegetable dyes and mineral colours and the results have been very promising. Some of the colour combinations are used in such a way that they look as if they were always meant to be complementary to each other. This Art of printing is used for the purpose of home furnishing as well as for the personal clothings. Each region of Rajasthan has its own designs and colour combinations which are used in such a way that a geometric pattern is recognized easily. Some of the famous area where this work takes place are Bagru and Sanganer.

One of the famous art of Rajasthan is known as tie-and-dye. In this technique fabrics are tied into small twists using a thread and then dipped into vats with their array of bright colours to create a mosaic patterns known as bandhani. This technique is used for sarees and odhnis (a kind of shawl, used by the women of Rajasthan) and by using this techniques different designs and colours can be created. A famous design showing the waves of different colours in known as Lahariya.

Colours & Dyes of Rajasthan
Being in the markets of Jaipur you really realize that if you may have the made a mistake choosing the wrong colour of your newly bought dress or simply if would like to change the colour of your favorite cloths after a while - it is not a big issue in Rajasthan. They can simply be given to the Dyers who are in penalty here in the Bazars of Rajasthan. There is an old tradition of dying the materials in Rajasthan. However these techniques have been given the boost by the growing demands of the tourists especially for the colourful objects. With some specific kind of dye even new papers can be made look old – making the tourists happy having bought an antique for such a less cost !. This is known as aging process of papers. Vegetable colours for paintings are obtained by the natural stones like lapis or indigo. Even Gold is grinded to be used as the fine Gold dust, as used in the precious miniature paintings.

For dying clothes the colours are obtained from flowers and barks. Black colour from the sulphate of iron, orange from saffron, yellow from myrobalan, purple from mulberry, green from pistachio, blue from indigo are some of the examples of obtaining the natural colours.

Furniture and wood carving is not a very old tradition of Rajasthan. It was very usual that even the royal courts were held on the carpets and rugs while all the participants of the court sit on the them. Earlier durbars (daily courts at king's palace) were held on large mattresses spread on the ground and covered with carpets and cushions for support. In this old system a strict hierarchy was maintained, a tradition that was retained even till later even during the British regime involvement in Rajasthan. Some of the interesting piece of furniture can be seen in the museums of Rajasthan like in the Lalgarh museum of Bikaner !

Since the tourists starting showing interest in the old furniture of Rajasthan, there has been development of new techniques in which the new furniture is made look like old furniture. Mostly in these areas you can find so called old items in which windows, a part of carved Balconies, tables, chairs, benches, swings, dressers is offered. As this kind of furniture was used in the big Havellis by the rich business people of Rajasthan, some interesting wooden and metal combinations are available in the markets with decorative elements which are carved beautifully. For people interested in buying the old or better to say “new as made old” furniture of Rajasthan we at Indo Vacations recommend the cities like Jaipur, Jodhpur as well as some areas of Shekhawati like Ramgarh. For more information please do not hesitate to contact us.

Some more famous kind of furnitures are like painted Chairs of Kishangarh, the leather embroidered chairs of Tilonia, String-bottom chairs of Shekhawati. Marble tops for tables also have been used highly in the recent past. Though this art basically flourished after the construction of Taj Mahal in Agra but the availability of good marble mines in Rajasthan brought many of the artisans back to Rajasthan.

Wood Figures with carvings are also highly available in Rajasthan. Wood Carving is done on different kind of woods. One of the option is using mango wood which is not considered as good option. Some of the people use the local Rohira wood which has its reputation for long lasting and being termite free. Termite could really be danger for precious piece of wood therefore, Rohira Wood gives you the peace of mind for your valuable article. There is also a long tradition of doing carving on sandalwood. Carving on Sandalwood is mostly done to create the figures of God and Goddesses as these figures are used in the temples at home of local people and admired as well by tourists due to the lovely sweet smell of the sandalwood. There is also carving work available on the ivory which is banned officially and we at Indo Vacations do not recommend buying such articles as import and export of ivory articles is prohibited and subject to prosecution if caught. There are wonderful substitutes available like paintings on marble plates and figures of camel bone.

Rajasthan is one of the largest centres in the world for manufacturing of gems stones and jewellery. No where perhaps in the world, such a large quantity and varieties of gem stones are cut and polished as in Rajasthan. It is not unusual to find shops and traders who have their shops full of real gem stones that it seems hard to believe to be real. There is every kind of stone which ranges from economical semi precious stones till precious stones and further as far as diamonds. To name, some of the stones widely available in the markets of Rajasthan are: Amethyst, Iolite, Aquamarine, Labradorite, Citrine, Black Onyx, Lapis, Earrings, Garnet, Citrine, Moonstone, Carneline,

Peridot, Pendants Crystal, Rose Quartz, Garnet, Green Venturine, Tourmaline, Green Onyx.

Even those who would not like to spend much would have the temptation to take some stones home as most of the offers are very so lucrative and the choice and colours available are incredible. In no other part of the world can you have the pleasure with the shopping the colour stones and Jewellery so economically as in Rajasthan. The main centre and big hub for the Semi-precious and precious Gemstone and Jewellery is Jaipur, the capital of the state Rajasthan as most of the cutting and polishing is done here in and around Jaipur and there are also big units of Jewellery manufacturing. 

Painting of Rajasthan have made the state famous not only in the country itself but also abroad. Especially the Rajputi and Mogul court scenes, romantic pairs and bathing princesses and festival celebrations are the most sought after motifs from the buyers. No matter in which area of Rajasthan you are – you can not be left unimpressed by the affect of the master painters. There are many different techniques which are used while making the paintings. Painters use brushes which are made out of the squirrel’s hair, the finest hair considered for hand paintings. Most popular areas where the paintings are considered as the art is the city of Udaipur and Jaipur in Rajasthan. These are the cities where miniature artists continue to create their incredible portfolios of scenes from myths, legends as well as of historical happenings. Though there are cheaper versions of the chemical and synthetic colors but still the use of high valued traditional mineral and vegetable dyes remain unmatched for its quality – though they are expensive and should not be compared with the products available at every street corner. The reason that the miniature paintings of Rajasthan have become so famous is that the fine work with details in it. Every gesture and activity is worked so fine that this is next to its liveliness. The figures in the paintings seem to have their own body language and conveying the messages.

Some of the famous schools of Paintings in Rajasthan are Kishangarh, Nathdwara, Jaipur and the Udaipur being the most famous. Ivory was also used as the base material in early days as much loved by the aristocrats and the rich ones. Since recent past it is no more allowed to use ivory and as substitute camel bones and high quality white marble plates are being used. Silk and Canvases are also being used as the base for the miniature paintings. (Canvas has longer life than the silk). Some of the finest works describe the nature in its full form whether being just flowers, trees, wild animals or birds. Recently the old traditions of making paintings with precious stones have been revived and finished products are getting very popular as most of them are affordable for everyone. However the highlight remains the miniature paintings from Udaipur on the old rice paper, silk and camel bones. We at Indo Vacations also organize the short and long painting courses as well as take you to the traditional painting schools of Rajasthan. For more information please contact us describing your wishes.

Terracotta has an old tradition in Rajasthan. Even today in many of the villages women still cook in terracotta pots over wood fires. Terracotta and clay pots are normally used for the storage of water as the slow evaporation through the porous clay helps in eliminating the surrounding heat and thus keeps the water cool even in the hottest temperature of Rajasthan. However once the pores are filled with the deposits the effect of cooling is less effective and a new earthen pot is needed in next summer. This is one of the example how a village economy keeps working. Terracotta earthen pots are available in different sizes and some times with white colorful designs on it to make it more beautiful.

In almost all the villages the traditions of making and using clay pottery can be seen. However artists of Udaipur have developed this culture into a fine art. In Udaipur Potters are using the clay not only to create just pots but also objects of art such as warriors fighting on horses, elephants with the soldiers being just some of the examples. Terracotta is also used to make figures of religious scenes as well as historic ones. The only biggest obstacle has been for Terracotta that the transportation needs a lot of care. As material, Terracotta is fragile being the original material clay. However the Terracotta lovers find their way with the help of wooden trunks to carry them safely even far away to distant countries. This all seems to be worth once a Terracotta article is allotted its final place in a living room.