Handicraft

Jaipur, popularly known as the “Pink City”, and “Paris of India”, is the capital of Rajasthan state, India. Jaipur is worldwide famous for unique Architecture, Vastu, Astrology, Forts, Monuments, Palaces, Art and Craft, Handicrafts, Culture and last but not least for unique Food.
Heritage of year 1727 is still alive in Jaipur which is the main attraction of Jaipur tour. Jaipur is renowned on international tourism map as one vertex of Golden Triangle of Indian tourism. Many scripts and poems have been written on the beauty of Jaipur city by domestic tourists as well as foreign tourists. Countless documentary movies have been made on Jaipur in last 250 years. Main attractions of Jaipur tour are Amber fort, Nahargarh Fort, Jaigarh Fort, Jal Mahal, Hawa Mahal, City Palace, Galta temple, Birla temple, Govind dev ji temple and Albert hall museum for sight seeing. In addition to this, it is best to always check the schedules of fairs and festivals of Jaipur at the time of planning your Jaipur tour so that you can witness colorful fairs and festivals of Jaipur.

Jaipur History: Jaipur was founded on 18th November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, a Kachawaha Rajput, who ruled from 1699-1744. Initially his capital was Amber (now pronounced as Amer), lies at a distance of 11 km from Jaipur. Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II felt the need of shifting his capital city because of safety reasons as it was likely to be attacked by a Mughal King Bahadur Shah after the death of Aurangzeb. Ever-increasing population and growing scarcity of water also pushed him to set up a well planned city.

 Architecture: Jaipur Architecture is world wide famous because of its technical details and beauty. Jaipur Architecture is based on Indian Vastu concepts. Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II – the founder of Jaipur was a great architect and astronomer. He also had a good knowledge of Indian Vastu. This is the reason that the architecture of Jaipur is a wonderful case study for the modern architects of the whole world.

Jaipur Heritage: Jaipur is known as Heritage City because of its rich heritage culture, customs, traditions, fairs and festivals, civilization, and hundreds years old forts and monuments. The glorious architecture of Jaipur the Pink City is renowned across the world. Wonderful Forts and Monuments garland the entire city in a planned manner.

Handicrafts: For all shopaholics, Jaipur is the perfect destination; a haven actually. The splendid city of Jaipur takes pride in its remarkable handiwork's that preserve its ancient art and crafts, which are renowned worldwide. This hub of vibrant commercial handicrafts, colourful culture, invites skilled craftsmen and artisans from India, as well as, abroad. Some of their famous artistic creations include metal-works, wood works, blue pottery, stone-carvings and leather ware. Apart from these, Jaipur has an exclusive range of gorgeous textiles, elegant jewellery and exquisite paintings, that display royal and magnificent artworks. Tourists from all over the world, flock the bazaars and markets of this city to explore the decorative collection of handicrafts in Jaipur, especially at Amer Road, M.I. Road, Bapu Bazaar and Jauhari Bazaar. Connoisseurs of art, Jaipur's local artisans, carefully compose unique arrays of designs that are rich in Indian art. Read further to learn about Jaipur's brilliant collection of handicrafts.

Jaipur Jewellery:-

• Lac jewellery is originally made in Jaipur. These ethnic handicrafts are finely designed by the local skilled craftsmen of Jaipur. Lac jewellery is a rural jewellery art, made by ancient techniques, passed down from generations.
• Jaipur's enthralling collection of metal jewellery, beautifully textured and comprising of many colours, shapes and sizes are simply a great work of art.
• Oxidized jewellery fashioned by expert craftsmen, are studded with exclusive mirror-work, and colourful beads. The jewellery is oxidized to specific requirements, to retain the colour and shine of the metal. Oxidization of jewellery creates an antique look and a smoky appearance of the metal.
• The silver jewellery of Jaipur comes in an ethnic style, and is studded with semi-precious stones of vibrant colours.
• Thewa jewellery, a closely guarded, ancient secret for some families, is an exquisite art form that involves complex treatment and fusion of glass with precious metals like gold and silver.

Jaipur Textiles:-

• Jaipur handicrafts include cushion covers that come in a variety of eye-capturing designs. Some of the types include embroidered cushions, patch-work cushions, block-printed cushions and velvet cushions that are perfect for day-to-day as well as occasional use.
• A vast range of bags, fashioned in patchwork, mirror-work, antique-beads, brocade and embroidery are available at Jaipur. Jaipur bags are made from excellent quality fabrics, and are presented in captivating styles.
• Unique Indian quilts are made from top quality cloths, and are patterned with exceptional embroidery work. These quilts are light-weight, comfortable to touch, and provide cozy warmth to the user.
• Bandhej, or Baandhini, is a type of tie-dye material, which is a very popular textile, among the many Jaipur handicrafts. Dots, waves, squares and strips are common designs in Bandhej. Natural and artificial colours are used in making these patterns which involve a lot of intricate knots post which the fabric is dyed. Hence the name, tie-n-dye.

Jaipur Paintings: Jaipur's miniature paintings featuring stunning Rajasthani women, Radha-Krishna, Rajput and Mughal kings are just a few of the many artworks of Jaipur artists. The paintings are made using natural colours derived from insects, minerals, vegetables, shells. The final products are decorated with powders of semi-precious stones and precious metals like gold and silver. The beauty of Jaipur miniature paintings is that, the colours of the paintings do not fade away with time. The handicrafts of Jaipur are always in high demand. These impressive ethnic styles and handicrafts are so enticing that tourists, from all over the world, come to visit this royal city. Discover the various kinds of fabulous art and handiwork's of Jaipur, with these tips.

Jaipur is expert and master of art and craft. Jaipur not only preserved ancient art and craft, but also bestowing this royal and beautiful art worldwide. In order to make Jaipur city a commercial art and craft hub, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II invited numerous experts of various arts and crafts from different corners of India, facilitated them to reside here, and honored them with land, money and daily needs; so that they can shape their art. That's why, today, Jaipur is renowned for its Miniature Painting art, Wall Painting art, Blue Pottery art, Stone Carving art, Wooden Handicraft, Metal art, Handicraft work on Camel Leather, Lacquer items, Gems & Jewellery art, Saree (traditional wear of Indian women), Hand Made Puppets art, Block printed bed sheets (hand work), Bandhej (Tie and Dye fabric), and other Handicraft work.

Jaipur Jewellry Art: Jaipur is a remarkable name on the globe as largest exporter of Gold, Diamond and Stone Jewelry in Asia. Jaipur jewelry markets are one of the biggest jewelry markets in India.
As Rajputs' were very fond of jewelry, the jewelry business established and nourished in Jaipur during the reign periods of Rajput rulers. Especially, during the reign period of Sawai Jai Singh II, Jaipur became the central hub of India for jewelry of precious and semi-precious stones as well as for remarkable gold and silver work. Jaipur city is now renowned globally for cutting, finishing, carving and polishing the precious and semi-precious stones used in large variety of Jaipuri Jewelry. Jaipur is the only city finishing Tanzanite (blue diamond) in the world. Meenakari and Kundan work are the world famous techniques used in Jaipur jewelry. Jaipur Kundan work is art of setting stone in gold and silver. Jaipur Meenakari work is a technique to enamel jewelry so that the stones do not come out easily and also the jewelry does not get stuck in cloths. Although jewelry shops are found all over Jaipur, yet Johri Bazaar is the dedicated jewelry market for jewelry shopping during Jaipur tour.

Jaipur Lacquer Art and Craft: Maharaja Ram Singh, Ruler of Jaipur originated lacquered art in Jaipur in 18th century. Lacquer is a type of varnish made from sap of Asian Lac Tree. At high temperatures it becomes soft like dough, and at low temperatures it becomes hard again. Because of  this unique characteristic, lacquer can be easily shaped into any form. In Jaipur, lacquer is used to make jewelry and handicraft items and it is also used in enameling other kind of artworks. Colors are added to lacquer by mixing pigments to create beautiful decorative designs. World famous Jaipuri Nakkashi or pattern work is the special style of decoration of lacquer artwork and lacquer jewelry.

Jaipuri Bandhej or tie and dye work: Jaipuri Bandhej Sarees (Sarees of tie and dye work), Jaipuri block print sarees, Jaipuri Leharia Sarees and Jaipuri Hand Embroidery Sarees are world famous. Tie-dyeing is a technique of resist dying of clothes/textile in which the material (textile or cloth) is folded into a specific pattern, and bound with string or rubber bands. Dye is then applied to only specific parts of the material. This way dye is not applied on entire material, but is applied to only specific areas. Specific designs on fabric are formed by applying different colors of dyes to different sections of the wet fabric.

Jaipuri Block Printing: For block printing, wooden patterns of specific designs are made. These patterns are dipped into dye and pressed against the fabric to print the pattern.

Jaipuri Leharia: Leharia is a specific patterns of waves like waves of ocean. Ladies of Jaipur wear Sarees of Leharia design during festival seasons.  Especially on Teej festival, almost every lady wear Leharia saree in Jaipur.

Jaipuri Hand Embroidery: Beautiful and colorful artistic designs are created with hand embroidery technique. Cotton, silk, gold and silver threads are used for embroidery. When gold and silver threads are used with cotton or silk thread, the embroidery is called as Jari Work. An excellent example of Jari Work is Saree of Queen of Jaipur displayed in Mubarak Mahal, City Palace Jaipur.
Bapu Bazar is exclusive market for Jaipur Sarees shopping during Jaipur Tour.

Jaipur Puppets (Kathputli) Jaipur Puppets and Puppet Shows are world famous as a popular form of folk art. Jaipuri Puppet is made of cloth and wood. The face is made of wood and rest of the body is made of cloth. Strings are tied on various parts of puppets for smooth movements. The puppeteer loops the ends of these strings in hands and fingers and give desired movements to make the puppet dance, walk, jump etc. Kathputli Nagar is the place where these puppets are made in Jaipur. During Jaipur tour one can purchase Puppets from Kathputli Nagar and shops near Hawa Mahal.

Jaipur Metal Art: Jaipur art and craft includes a wide range of metal work. Jaipur is predominantly famous for its koftagari, brass engraving, bronze art and lacquering work. Koftgari Art: Koftgari is an overlay art in which thick gold or silver wires are pressed by special tool, after that it is heated and pressed by a polished stone. This way, a coat of artistic design of one metal is applied on another in the form of wire.

Brass Engraving Art: Jaipur is big exporter of brass engraving statues and decorative items. Brass engraving is a process of etching surface of brass article with a special tool to create a design i.e. floral patterns, scenes etc. Artisans of Jaipur are expert in brass engraving work.

Lacquering Art: Surface of an item is coated with beautiful lacquer designs. Lacquer designs may cover the whole body or a particular part of the item.
Bronze Art: Jaipur has expertise in making bronze sculptures, swords, shields etc.
Sanganeri Block Print: Sanganer, Jaipur is the only export hub of Sanganeri Hand Block Print fabrics. Hand blocks of particular pattern designs are made by wood and the artisan print the beautiful design on cotton cloth manually with natural colors. Beautiful folk designs, floral patterns with fragrance of natural colors makes it heart winning fabric.

 Jaipur Leather Art and Craft: Jaipur's leather art and craft is popular all over the world. Hand made leather shoes, hand-bags, vases, purses, painted lampshades, belts, hats, shields, stools and collapsible chairs made in Jaipur are famous worldwide. Jaipur leather shoes are famous because of ethnic designs and Kashida work on shoes. These shoes are known as Mojari or Jaipuri Jooti. In addition to royal and ethnic designs, these Mojaris are very comfortable to wear and the most unique feature is the temperature inside Mojari maintains almost equal to body temperature. Due to this unique feature of Mojari, it can wear in all seasons.

Jaipur Blue Pottery: Jaipur Blue Pottery is made of Egyptian Paste. The blue glaze on pottery is made of Multani Mitti. Mostly Jaipur blue pottery is decorated with animal and bird motifs. Jaipur blue pottery is very fragile because it is low-fired. Jaipur is now the biggest center of Blue Pottery manufacturing.

 Jaipur Miniature Paintings: Jaipur Miniature paintings are painted by natural colors, powder of elephant teeth, powders of precious metals like gold and silver and powders of precious and semi precious stones. Hence colors of  miniature paintings never fades with the age which makes them everlasting.

Jaipur Marble Art and Craft: Marble handicraft of Jaipur has high demand in global market. Jaipur is expert to make any kind of shape and object with marble stone. Most amazing designs are artistic mesh surfaces in three dimensional marble objects like elephant, flower pot, box, pen stand etc.
Jaipur is no doubt a paradise for marble handicraft shopping during Jaipur Tour. Amber market is the dedicated market for shopping beautiful Jaipur marble art and craft items.
Marble statues of Jaipur is also famous globally. Jaipur is the leading exporter of marble statues and sculptures. One can easily watch the artisans to craft the religious statues, figurative human sculptures and other sculptures in Khezron ka Rasta. Most of the sculpture work is still chiseling work performed by skilled artisans in Jaipur.
Jaipur Wooden handicraft: Jaipur is leading exporter of wooden handicraft. Wooden handicraft includes making awesome articles, interior decoration items, furniture and engraving work on wood.
Jaipur is major wooden handicraft exporter in world.

Jaipur Carpets:

The magnificent city of Jaipur is famous for its vibrant and artistically woven fabrics and carpets. Since ages, this city has offered the best traditional designs, and the fabrics are the best in the world. The art of the colorful province of Rajasthan, finds expression through the fabrics of Jaipur. The colorful fabrics have fascinated people all across the world and tourists make it a point to visit Jaipur and its markets looking for these very authentic and classic items. There are numerous carpet centers in Jaipur and most of them undertake exports worldwide. 'Kishanpol Bazaar', 'Haldiyon Ka Rasta', 'Maniharon Ka Rasta', 'M.I. Road', 'Jauhari Bazaar', 'Bapu Bazaar' and 'Nehru Bazaar' display a wide range of stunning and beautiful fabrics, carpets, metal works, handicrafts, etc. A visit to Jaipur is never complete without some shopping from these markets. There is no other city or place in India which can offer textiles more exotic than the ones found in Jaipur. These vibrant and flamboyant textile works and carpets reflect the rich culture and tradition of Rajasthan.

Carpet weaving was initially introduced by the Mughal Emperor Akbar. Now, the innovations in designs of the carpets in Jaipur are beyond comparison and there is a wide variety of carpets made of wool, silk, jute and several synthetic fibers.

• The Persian print rugs or carpets are the most remarkable. The designs and prints are inspired by Persian art and culture.
• ‘Namdas' are carpets made of wool which are usually white in color. They are very soft and richly embroidered.
• Another type of rug is ‘jajam'. ‘Jajams' are small carpets or mats meant for seating.
• Carpets made of cotton are commonly known as ‘dhurries'. These are the most popular in the category of carpets as they are easy to maintain and are liked by all.
• Multi-colored carpets come in wide ranges of designs and patterns, which can go a long way in augmenting the beauty of your house. These carpets are available in various materials, sizes and styles.

Jaipur Fabrics: Jaipur is famous for producing the best quality of fabrics. The fabrics are bright, colorful and excel in quality. Block printing is a craft in Jaipur and is mainly done on hand-woven fabrics. The printing is done with the help of hand-crafted wooden blocks and mineral-based dyes. Famous textile products include Sarees, Kurtas, Odhnis, dress materials and bandhej items. Tie and dye is a unique technique of dyeing fabrics in Rajasthan. Dyeing two sides of a cloth is also a famous technique in Jaipur. These textile products are a craze among domestic and foreign tourists alike. The unique fabrics and carpets of Jaipur are renowned throughout the world. Jaipur is a city of rich heritage and artwork. These carpets and fabrics are a way of communicating this flamboyance of the Rajasthani culture. The fabrics, which include Sarees and dress materials, have become a fashion-statement for the new generation.

Jaipur Connecting to International Market Colourful Carpets or beautifully made rugs are an imperative aspect of your home furnishings. At present, fashions have affirmed the steady raise in responsiveness about carpet types, style, designs, care and preservation. On account of the competition and availability of skilled labor, this business is revered in decorating your home and hiding the flaws in the flooring. In essence, the carpet and rug making industry highlights on 2 kinds of manufacturing: machine-made and hand-made carpets or rugs. While machine-made carpets are obtainable in select designs and varieties, it is very difficult to substitute the worth and quality of hand-made carpets or rugs. Gorgeous hand-made carpets or rugs have been well thought-out to be ecological and exceptionally precious. Also, the hand-made carpets and rugs are more hard-wearing when compared to the artificial machine-made ones as they make use of strapping natural fibers.

The Ethnic Place to Shop: When a traveller goes to a new city then the first question arises in his mind that what he should buy that he can keep as the souvenir of that new place. Well, if we talk about the lovely and beautiful pink city Jaipur, we don’t have to think much about shopping, because Jaipur is a famous place for shopping. Whether it’s the Karishma Kapoor’s wedding or Abhishek and Aishwarya’s wedding or any high profile people’s function, everybody gives priority to Ethnic Place to shop in Jaipur.

Costumes, Gems and Jewellery of Jaipur: Television and Bollywood industry is overwhelmed and fascinated by the ‘jaipuri lehnga chunri’, one of the most famous and most worn costumes of Jaipur. Jaipuri lehnga are always well embroidered and stitched and often called ‘Gotedaar Lehnga ‘.This costume is used in so many films and television’s daily soaps in Bollywood in such a beautiful manner. The wonderful example is the serial ‘Balika Vadhu’, it telecasts daily on Colors Channel. The show is based on Rajasthan’s Culture, Rituals and Customs; in this show most of the artists wear the costumes and jewelries of Jaipur. Even Film Actors (female) are always fascinated by these traditional costumes. And again jaipur’s jewel and costume is used many times in Bollywood , ‘Jodha Akbar’ is the vivid example, and you must remember the famous dance sequence ‘Chamma Chamma’ from the film China Gate.

The famous actress and model Aishwarya Rai (who is now Aishwarya Rai Bacchan) wore Kundan Jewelry of Jaipur at her wedding in 2007 and her films ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ and ‘Umrao Jaan’. ‘Kundan Keshri’ is a traditional South Asian gemstone jewelry, a method of gem setting in a jewelry piece, consisting of inserting gold foil between the stones and its mount, usually used to create elaborate necklaces believed to have originated in the Royal Courts of Rajasthan. It is the oldest form of jewelry made and worn in India.

Gems and jewelry of jaipur is famous all over the world. Jewelry and Gems of Jaipur are not only used in films rather they are praised by foreign people or any traveler comes in Jaipur. Many exhibitions of gems and jewelry are held in different countries like Bangkok, Thailand, Singapore and we always get a great and overwhelming response from there.

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