Art & architecture
Rajasthan is known for its traditional and colorful art. The block prints, tie and die prints, Bagaru prints, Sanganer prints, Zari embroidery are major export products from Rajasthan. Handicraft items like wooden furniture and handicrafts, carpets, blur potteries are some of the things you will find here. Rajasthan is shoppers paradise.

Rajasthan is among the richest states in the country as far as the field of arts and crafts is concerned. Stone, clay, leather, wood, ivory, lac, glass, brass, silver, gold and textiles are given the most brilliant forms. Some of the popular crafts are :
Jewellery
Rajasthan is rich in jewellery, each area having it's own unique style. Some of the traditional design are rakhri, bala, bajuband, gajra, gokhru, jod, etc. tribal women wear heavy, simply crafted silver jewelry . Men also wear ornaments in the form of chockers and earrings. Jaipur is famous expert centre for precious and semi-precious gem stones. Rajasthan excels in a wide range of ornaments-using Emerald, Daimond, Pearls, Garnet, Agate, etc. made especially in Jaipur and Jodhpur.
Meenakari is the art of enamelling on gold or silver and is done in Jaipur using the raised-field style. Kundan is the art of setting precious stones in gold. There is a large variety of bangles in Rajasthan. Consequently, all manner of precious and semi-precious stones can be purchased in Rajasthan.
Textiles
Rajasthani textiles come in an attractive range of hand - block prints, tie and dye and embrodered fabrics with mirror work. The art of Khari or over printing in gold is also practised here. The bandhni or tie & dye work comes from Sikar, Jodhpur, Udaipur etc.
Bandhani or Tie and Dye
As the name suggests, this technique involves two stages: tying sections of a length of cloth (silk or cotton) and then dunking it into vats of colour. The main colours used in Bandhani are yellow, green, red and black. It is essentially a household craft supervised by the head of the family. The fabric is skillfully knotted by the women, while the portfolio of dyeing rests with the men. The Jaipur dyer rarely works with more than two dye baths while the additional colours are spot dyed, which makes the process much easier. Thereafter, the fabric opens out into amazing designs in kaleidoscopic colours: dots, circles, squares, waves and stripes. The laheriya or the ripple effect is achieved by a variation of this technique. Lengths of permeable muslin are rolled diagonally from one corner to the opposite, bound tightly at intervals and then dyed. The ties are then undone and the process repeated by diagonally rolling the adjacent corner toward the opposite and repeating the process. Both Jaipur and Jodhpur are major centres of laheriya.
Block-printing
Rajasthan has a long and distinguished traditon of printing with finely carved wooden blocks. This method, though labourious, is actually quite simple and merely calls for precision. The cloth is laid out flat on a table or bench and a freshly dipped block is handpressed on to the fabric to form a continuous, interlocking pattern. The block carries dye if the original colour of the cloth has to be preserved. If the cloth has to be dyed, the block is used to apply an impermeable resist - a material such as clay, resin or wax - to demarcate the pattern that is not to be coloured. Later, when the cloth is dyed, the pattern emerges in reverse. Traditonally, block-printing relied on the use of natural dyes and pigments, but now synthetic dyes have gained currency as they are cheaper. Block Printing is widely practiced at Sanganer and Bagru.
Embroidery
In the hamlets of southwestern Rajasthan you won't spot a single house without an embroidered toran or frieze hung above the doorway. The women of this region and adjoining Kutch and Saurashtra districts of Gujarat are adept at needlework. Embroidered torans, odhnis, shawls, ghagras (long, flowing skirt) and blouses that come to life with colourful motifs and the sparkle of tiny mirrors or shishas, are a mandatory part of their bridal dowry. There are also embroidered leather bags, saddles and ethnic footwear (popularly dubbed mojdis or jooties), but these are particularly the domain of men.
Carpets
Rajasthan carpets are suprb in workmanship and command sizeable export market. Exquisite carpets in traditional and contemporary designs, woollen druggets or 'Namdas' and hand-woven cotton duries also known as 'Panja' durries are the popular floor coverings.
Leatherware
Rajasthan has a long history in leather craft and industry and leather shoes known as jootis or mojdis are made in Jaipur and Jodhpur. Embroidery known as kashida is done on the jootis: in Jaipur it is first done on velvet which is then made to cover the shoes while in Jodhpur it is applied directly to the leather. This embroidery is mainly done by the women, who also does a bit of fancy stitching or appliqué work to give a designer look to the shoes that have neither a left or a right foot.
Paintings
The miniature paintings of Rajasthan are renowned the world over. Over a period of time several schools of painting developed in Rajasthan : the Mewar School, Bundi-Kota Kalam, Bikaner, Jaipur, paintings were being made in Rajasthan as early as the 18th century and later the Mughal court employed the artists.
Todays families engaged in miniature paintings exist in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Nathwara and Kishangarh and continue to paint fine works of art on handmade paper. The ancient tradition of scroll paintings survives in Rajasthan as Phads and Pcihwais in bold vigorous lines and bright primary colours displaying much of the ancient Indian tradition of narrative painting.
Ivory Carving
Rajasthan has its main ivory carving centres at Udaipur, Bharatpur and Jaipur from where master ivory carvers were once favoured by the royal courts. While Jaipur was famous for its carved ivory, Jodhpur specialized in ivory bangles. The bangles were worn to cover the whole arm and they decreased in size from just below the shoulder to the wrist. The Bikaner Palace is more well known and prominent for its artistic ivory inlaid doors than the palace itself. Carved ivory artefacts can be purchased in and around Jaipur but the export of ivory in any form from India is strictly prohibited.
Pottery
Potters pottering about on their wheel and fashioning all kinds of pitchers and earthenware are a common sight in India. While pottery for daily use (like gharas and surahis) is made all over Rajasthan, certain areas specializing in a particular type. Jaipur is known for its regal blue-glazed pottery introduced in India by early Muslim rulers. The blue glaze was initially used to liven up the visual appeal of mosques, tombs and palaces - you'll spot the extensive use of these tiles in the old city of Jaipur. Another hotspot is the village of Molela, 40km north of Udaipur, which excels in terracotta pottery, sculpted plaques and icons of Rajput heroes and Hindu deities. An array of terracotta articles are produced in Rajasthan : paper-thin pottery, painted pottery, white and red clay articles and terracotta wall plaques, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Alwar and Bikaer are the main centres. Black pottery, better sourced in South India, makes its mark up north in the district of Dausa, west of Jaipur. Nowhere as ornamental as its southern counterpart, this one is known for its minimalist and sleek forms.
Puppets
Kathputlis or wooden puppets are a common and popular form of entertainment in the villages of Rajasthan. The puppeteer is the storyteller who unwinds a folk tale or an episode from the Hindu epics - the Ramayana or the Mahabharata - along with the deft interplay of various puppets, each signifying a character in the tale. Unfortunately, puppet theatre in India is under serious threat from television and cinema, and it may soon be curtains for this animated style of amusement.
Metalware
The metalware of Rajasthan comprises of artistic, enamelled and engaved silverware and metalware. Popular creations in silver include wine cups, silver embossed decorative boxes, human figures, cigarette lighter cases and photo farmes.
Jaipur is famous for engraved brassware which is usually enamelled.