ART AND CRAFT OF RAJASTHAN
Carpets
Bikaner, Jaipur and Ajmer are the main places for beautiful
carpets. Hand knotted carpets have floral or angular
motifs. These carpets are known for their high quality
of craftmanship and are colour-fast.
Carpet weaving is not indegenious to India but brought
in by the mughals. By the end of the late 16th century,
Indian carpet weavers were producing superior examples
comparable with the finest products of Persia. The rulers
of Amber-Jaipur took a great interest in carpets and
built up a large collection of 16th and 17th century
Persian and Mughal carpets. The carpet industry in Jaipur
started only in the mid 19th century when carpet making
was introduced as a jail craft.
Durries
A Durrie is a cool, light rug. Rajasthani
durries are smooth and closely woven. Pastel shades
and a sparse use of geometrical motifs are popular.
Durrie weaving is also a craft special to Rajasthan.
Durries of Ramgarh, nigarli woven with a cotton warp
and left are especially rich in design and while being
light in weight, give a sumptuous carpet like effect.
Jaipur is a thriving centre for carpets and durries
today.
Puppets
 Puppetry,
an ancient, popular form of folk entertainment. The
string puppet in Rajasthan are called katputlis, or
marionettes. The riveting histrionics of the puppeters,
like the full-throated songs of the Mirasis, Langas
and Manganiyars belong to old passtimes, epomizing a
traditional, leasurely pace of life. No village fair,
no religious festival and no social gathering would
be complete without them. The traditional puppeters
were from the wandering communities of the Bhatts. They
move from village to village with their box of katputlis,
accessories and dhoklas during the festive seasons,
returning to their villages to cultivate their small
patch of land during the short rainy season.
Paintings
Rajasthan’s role in the development of Indian art has
been very important. From the 16th century onwards there
are many schools of paintings like the Mewar school,
the Bundi - Kota Kalam, the Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh
and Mewar schools. Influenced by the surroundings, these
medieval paintings have their own unique styles - the
hills and valleys, deserts, palaces and forts, gardens,
court scenes, religious processions and those highlighting
scenes from the life of Lord Krishna were the recurrent
themes of these paintings. The Raagmala paintings and
those based on Geeta Govinda are treasures of Rajasthan.
It is widely believed that the miniature artists of
Rajasthan were practicing and perfecting their art as
early as the beginning of the 16th century and were
later employed by the mughal courts, specially by the
great mughal emperor Akbar. The colours used by the
miniature artists were made from minerals, vegetables,
precious stones, indigo, conch shells, pure gold and
silver. The preparing and mixing of color was an elaborate
process and it took weeks, sometimes months, to get
the desired results. Very fine, specially created brushes
were made for different kinds of paintings.
The landscape changed, the colors used were varied,
paintings were done on paper and palm leaf to illustrate
manuscripts. The painted havelis of Shekhawati are well-known
for it. But the importance of miniatures has never diminished
- even after all these years. Paintings influenced by
mughal court provide an interesting insight into the
lifestyle of the centuries and continue to fascinate
the scholars to this day. Artists in Nathdwara, Kishangarh
and Jaipur still work on miniatures and some of them
produce excellent work. The magical quality of the miniature
continues to live on. In a different class but with
several similarities are the cloth paintings of Rajasthan
which includes the phads -- scroll paintings used by
the Bhopas and the Pichwais -- cloth hangings used behind
the deity in Vaishnava temples. Done in bright colours
with bold outlines, these paintings have very strong
religious traditions. And the artist who works on them
considers himself to be the servant of the Lord and
puts in Shraddha or devotion on each pichwai or phad
that he paints. This art form is also done for commercial
use.
Pottery
Blue Pottery
This is an ancient craft and is
one of the oldest in Rajasthan and many schools of pottery
are scattered in different parts of the state. Blue
pottery of Jaipur is the most exquisite and best known.
It owes its origin to Persia. It was introduced in Jaipur
in the mid 19th century during the reign of Raja Ram
Singh and today, the descendants of the very first potters
still practice the craft. It is unique because it is
the only pottery in the world that does not use clay.
The pottery has distinct appearances. A small community
of potters in Alwar of eastern Rajasthan keep alive
the craft of kagzi (paper thin) pottery. While molded
pottery from Phokran, from the thick of the desert,
is famous for its exquisite finish in geometric designs.
Bikaner makes decorative pottery, which is embellished
with gold to give glitter in its look.
 Making
Blue Pottery The materials used are Multani clay
or fuller's earth, quartz, raw glaze, and sodium sulfate.
Once the piece is made, partly in molds and partly on
the wheels, the artist draws the designs with a soft
brush on the surface using a copper sulfate pigment
for turquoise blue and a cobalt oxide pigment for deep
blue. The piece is then fired carefully in the kiln.
Some of the pottery is semi translucent and, in addition
to blue and green, other combinations have now been
evolved, such as canary yellow, dark blue and brown.
The best pieces are hand painted with conventional floral
or arabesque patterns and sometimes with figures of
animals. Besides traditional articles like surahis,
pots and cylindrical jars, other items include ash trays,
tiles, flower pots, lamp stands, beads, ear rings, soap
dishes, jugs, mugs and door knobs.
Fabrics
Block Printing on textiles (Sanganer) Very close
to Jaipur is Sanganer now famed for the city’s airport
it is also the center for block and screen-printed cotton
cloth. They are available in very colourful folk designs
and some very soft and soothing cloth mainly used for
bed linen, table covers, curtains or home furnishing.
Neighbouring Bagru is also famed for textile designs
but printers in Bagru use vegetable colour and use more
floral designs while Barmer from western Rajasthan produces
prints that are known for their bold geometric patterns,
called 'AJRAKH'. Barmer an area in the middle of the
Thar Desert is known for darker shades because people
in the desert believed that dark shades are cooler as
they absorb sunrays. From the other desert city, Jaisalmer,
come some of the oldest designs; the specialty is the
wax resistant art printing, a technique that creates
some most unusual shades. The print on a Jaisalmer wedding
dress is a spectacular one, with a design of squares
in red, pink and black. Pichhwai from the temple town
of Nathdwara near Udaipur and muslin prints from Kota
are some very fine examples of textile prints from Rajasthan
also.
Laharia This is a special print process of tie
and dye it creates the stylized wavy pattern locally
called laharia meaning of waves. The patterns symbolize
water waves and are favored in monsoon rain. Turbans,
odhnis (wraps) and saris with laharia patterns are generally
used on festive occasions and outdoor picnics especially
around the time of Teej festival. Rajasthani bandhej
pieces are generally of fine malmal (delicate cotton
cloth) for saris and odhnis, and medium or coarse cloth
for the tradition ghagra (skirt), lugri (shirt), choli
(bodice), and odhnis. The designs are not as elaborate
or delicately drawn as those in Gujarat. |
