Block printing and crafts of Rajasthan

Block printing is the craft most associated with Rajasthan. Designs are carved into teak blocks, one block for each colour, and printed by hand onto cotton laid on long padded tables. A skilled printer works quickly, placing each block exactly against the last without measuring. The cloth is then washed, dried in the sun, and sometimes printed again.

Two villages near Jaipur keep distinct traditions. In Bagru, about 30 km west, the Chhipa community prints earthy designs with natural dyes from indigo, pomegranate rind, turmeric and iron, and uses dabu, a mud-resist paste that gives the cloth its soft, cracked lines. In Sanganer, about 16 km south, printers specialise in fine floral motifs on white grounds. Both welcome visitors to family workshops.

The Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing, in a restored haveli near Amber Fort, explains the history and techniques, with live demonstrations. Brands founded in Jaipur have worked with printers for decades and helped carry the craft to an international market.

Bandhani is the tie-dye of Rajasthan and Gujarat: thousands of tiny knots are tied in cloth before dyeing, leaving patterns of dots. It is made in Jodhpur, Jaipur and many smaller towns, and worn at weddings and festivals. Leheriya, a wave-patterned tie-dye, is the cloth of the monsoon and the Teej festival, made by rolling and tying cloth diagonally before dyeing.

Near Jodhpur, the village of Salawas is known for dhurries, flat-woven rugs of cotton and wool made on pit looms in family homes. In the desert around Barmer and Jaisalmer, women embroider with mirrors and bright threads, and appliqué and patchwork are made in many villages, including those around Ranthambore through the Dastkar project.

Watching a bandhani worker tie knots is a lesson in patience: a single sari can take weeks, with the pattern marked on the cloth and each dot pinched and bound with thread by hand. Leheriya needs equal care, as the cloth is rolled, tied and dyed several times to build up its waves of colour. Dhurrie weaving in Salawas is quicker, but a large rug still takes a family several weeks. Seeing the time involved changes how you look at the prices in the bazaar, and why genuine hand work costs what it does.

This table lists the crafts we arrange visits for most often, with the best place to see each one and what to look for.

Jaipur's blue pottery is unusual in that it uses no clay. The body is made from quartz powder, glass, multani mitti and gum, shaped by hand, painted in cobalt blue and other colours and fired at low temperatures. The craft came to Jaipur through Persian and Mughal influence and was revived in the 20th century. Workshops in and around the city show each step.

Miniature painting continues in Udaipur, Jaipur, Kishangarh and Deogarh, with painters grinding pigments and using brushes of a few hairs. At Nathdwara, near Udaipur, families paint pichhwai, large cloth hangings for the Shrinathji temple. In the bazaars, silversmiths, enamel workers and lac bangle makers work in small shops, often in front of customers.

Jewellery is its own world in Jaipur, one of the largest centres for cutting coloured gemstones in the world. In the lanes behind Johari Bazaar, cutters and polishers work at small wheels, and kundan and meenakari jewellers set stones and enamel in gold. Visit with a guide who knows the trade.

Some of Rajasthan's finest craft is in its buildings. In Shekhawati, merchant families commissioned painters from the 18th to the early 20th century to cover havelis, temples and cenotaphs with frescoes of gods, battles, trains and Europeans. Towns such as Mandawa, Nawalgarh, Fatehpur and Ramgarh hold thousands of painted walls, some restored and many fading. A specialist guide is essential to find the best of them.

In Jaisalmer, stone carvers worked the yellow sandstone of the Thar as if it were wood, and the facades of Patwon ki Haveli and Salim Singh ki Haveli show what they could do. In Jaipur and Udaipur, the palaces hold mirror work, inlay and painted ceilings, and stone carvers still work in the old quarters. The Jain temple at Ranakpur, with its marble pillars, is perhaps the greatest single work of carving in the state.

Craft visits work best in the morning, when workshops are active and the light is good for printing and dyeing. A typical Jaipur craft day might begin in Bagru at 9 am, move to Sanganer for lunch and paper workshops, and end at the Anokhi Museum or a blue pottery studio in the afternoon. In Jodhpur, an early drive to the Bishnoi villages and Salawas fits before lunch, and in Udaipur a painting session suits the afternoon heat.

Many workshops close on certain festival days and slow down during weddings, when families are busy. Tell us which crafts interest you most and we will build a day around them, with time to try the work yourself and no pressure to buy. Specialists can extend into Kutch in Gujarat, a neighbouring region with its own rich textile traditions.

Buy from makers and established shops, not from places a driver or tout insists on. Ask how a piece was made, and look for signs of hand work: slight irregularities in block prints, fine brushwork in paintings, natural fibres in rugs. Prices for genuine hand work are higher than for machine copies, and fair. Bargaining is normal in bazaars but not in fixed-price shops or workshops.

Shipping from Rajasthan is reliable through established makers. Ask for a written receipt, confirm shipping costs and timelines before you pay, and keep records. Be careful with antiques: items over 100 years old generally cannot be exported from India without permission.

• Ask your guide whether a shop pays commission
• Prefer workshops where you can see the work
• Get written receipts and shipping details
• Check export rules for anything claimed as antique