Art and Craft of Udaipur

MINIATURE PAINTING

Out of the various traditional art forms of India, miniature painting expressively reflects the colorful and detailed royal culture of Rajasthan. Udaipur is a popular art center for miniature painting where Shanti lal Ji specializes in teaching the intricacies of this rajasthani art with absolute ease.

These beautiful miniature paintings depict a detailed visual of the events of royal era. They use fine brushes with squirrel hair as bristles and natural colors. These colors are extracted from natural resources. Such as red from the dried fruit of Peepal tree, orange from Palash flower and black from stones. Mixing the colors with water and natural gum is necessary for their final application. The elaborate carvings, facial features and clothing are the result of extreme precision.

LEATHER DIARIES

Udaipur is the home for the famous handicrafts of India. One such example is the making of leather products, particularly leather diaries. These are high quality handmade leather diaries. The artists of Udaipur use their ancient techniques of skinning, tanning, crafting and stitching ,etc. Apart from leather being a natural fabric, the benefits of these leather diaries arise in the form of being durable, weather resistant and partly waterproof. To sum up, the Lake City presents various vibrant designs of this traditional art form with a modern touch.

HANDMADE PAPER

Udaipur is not only known for its tourist attractions but also for beautifully carrying forward the art and crafts of Rajasthan. The paper industry here uses acid-free paper and contributes in making a plastic-free world. The artists use cotton waste as a raw material with flower petals, muslin sheets and silk threads to produce different types of paper. Various other art forms such as hand block printing and embroidery techniques also add an artistic touch to these attractive handmade papers. This art culture has also become popular for its use in home decor items.

FRESCO PAINTINGS

Fresco Paintings represent one of the most indigenous art forms of Rajasthan. These are two-dimensional paintings that beautifully depict the mythological figures, long history of battles, rulers, huge mansions and royal palaces of Rajasthan. Udaipur displays these vibrant wall paintings in its rich heritage havelis and traditional houses.

Above all, the artists of fresco paintings, chiteras, belonging to the potter’s caste use natural colors for this art form. Such as indigo (neel) for blue, lamp black (kajal) for black, lime (safeda) for white etc.

POTTERY MAKING

Rajasthan is the land of traditional arts & crafts of India and Rajasthani Pottery is among its famous art works. Among the different styles of pottery of different regions, the villages of Udaipur are popular for their “Terracotta Pottery”.

The process of pottery making requires clay preparation, crafting and firing. Moreover, the art of pottery passes from generation to generation and the artisans depict beautiful incarnations of mythological figures. And everyday life of villagers through this art form.

BONE INLAY ART

Bone Inlay is the most attractive and timeless art form of Rajasthan. Indeed, it is a perfect combination of traditional art work and modern designing with a royal visual to each art piece. The craftsmen shape the discarded camel bones and fix them in timber frame. Then they use resin art to make beautiful bone inlay furniture such as mirrors, tables and drawers, etc.

From originating in the royal palaces of Rajasthan, this stunning bone inlay art can now be seen in various mansions of Udaipur giving them a royal traditional touch.

JAL SANJHI

The Old City of Udaipur is famous for a very unique art form of “Jal Sanjhi”, also known as Water Art. Rajesh, the Jal Sanjhi artist dedicates this traditional art of painting on water to Lord Krishna. He uses canvas of sheer water, natural colors and stencils made of thin rice papers.

After creating a floating base of water in a huge vessel, he places the stencils of Krishna over water and sprinkle colours. This process is repeated several times till the final Jal Sanjhi art emerges.

For more details on any of these workshops please write to us.