India’s deep-rooted tradition in crafts can be traced back to the ancient times when the country, famous for its cotton, was an important trading centre for mainly textiles and dyes, and Ivory, Sailors from the West and the Far East poured silver and gold into India in return for its hand printed cotton textiles and other handicrafts. But it was only under the early Mughals that Indian crafts touched new heights the art of textile-making and jewellery was highly developed and new techniques/skills such as velvet manufacturing were introduced and perfected. Local patronage diminished with the weakening of the Mughal Power. The colonial era discouraged trade in crafts; Indian crafts were now challenged by the cheap, imported, machine-made goods. Gandhi’s swadeshi movement was aimed at reinforcing the status of the Indian crafts. After independence, the government’s efforts have been to launch developmental programmes for the crafts industry, revive many traditional crafts, identify new craft centres and make people more aware of their country’s rich, cultural heritage.

Indian crafts can be broadly classified as

(i) folk crafts, i.e. produced by village craftsmen for a limited population or created by people for their own use;

(ii) commercial crafts, i.e. produced by craftsmen of a particular group/caste working in a centre associated with a specific skill; and

(iii) crafts associated with religious centres.

Textiles

Among cotton weaves, the Jamdani or inlay techniques is very suitable for the fine cotton woven in the country. It is popular in West Bengal where weavers produce sarees with delicate, coloured patterns on a white background. It is also practised in Tanda – the patterns are elaborate here – and Varanasi (UP), Venkatagiri (Andhra Pradesh), Morangfi (Manipur) and used in the Kodial-karuppar sarees of Tamil Nadu. In the Patthani techniques which resembles tapestry weaving, separate threads are interlocked to weave pallus and borders for sarees and patkas. Once popular in Chanderi, it survives only in Paithan. Cotton sarees of Maheshwar – with small checks of complimentary colours; Illkal sarees of Karnataka; Andhra Pradesh many varieties, mainly Naryanpet sarees; the sarees of Kanjeevaram, Madurai, Salem and the Kalakshetra sarees – based on traditional silk patterns – of Tamil Nadu; and the Karalkkudi sarees of unbleached material made in Kerala are notable.

Among silk weaves, there are varieties of gold brocades such as the heavy gold brocade, the all-over gold brocade, the Ganga-Yamuna society. The popular Amru silk brocades the Baluchari techniques of brocades-one of its kind as its patterns are taken from miniature paintings, and the tanchot – based on the Chinese techniques of brocade-weaving, are practised in Varanasi which is a leading silk-weaving centre. South India’s silk sarees of Kanjeevaram, Kumbakonam and Tanjore with heavy, lustrous silk and broad borders are famous.

The bandhani technique of tie-and-dye which is one of the earliest kinds of surface decorations is worked to its finest in Kutch, Jamnagar and Rajkot (Saurashtra) and Jodhpur, Jaipur and other centres in Rajasthan. Lahriya and mothra techniques to produce multicoloured, diagonal patterns are specific to Rajasthan, Patola (also, ikaf) involving tie-and-dye of wasp and weft threads before weaving is called chilka in Andhra Pradesh and bandha in Orissa, which has developed a style of its own.

Printing techniques of fabrics include the popular direct printing where carved blocks of wood are used to print bleached cotton or silk; resist printing which makes use of a paste of various materials to print sections of the cloth that are not dyed; printing of fabrics by using mordants. The battle technique of painting farbrics has evolved from resist printing. Important printing centres are Jaipur, Banner, Pali, Sanganer (Rajasthan); Kutch, Ahmedabad, Baroda (Gujarat); Madhya Pradesh – specializes in nandra; Ujjain Farrukhabad (Uttar Pradesh); Masulipatnam and Tanjore in the south.

Famous folk embroidery forms are the Saurashtrian heer, wherein striking geometric patterns are made on silk; the bagh – embroidery of silk or cotton – of Punjab which specializes in the chope, a special embroidery in the holbein stitch; the phulkaris of Haryana and Punjab; the double-sided chamba rumal of Himachal Pradesh; and Karnataka’s speciality, Kasuti which involves various stitches.

Shawals of extrafine wool laid with intricate designs displaying excellent craftsmanship are a features of Kashmir, which is famous for kani – woven pashmina – shawls, the dorukha (double sided) shawls, and the shahtoose, kulu shawls with check patterns use motifs associated with Buddhism. Tsungkotepsu shawls (warrior shawls) of Nagaland are also famous.

Carpets and floor coverings

The durree, a floor-covering geneally woven of a thick cotton fabric, is produced in a range of designs. It includes the panja durree of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, thejah-namaz, a prayer mat of UP; the Navalgund durree with rich patterns; the bhawani durree of silk and cotton from Salem, Tamil Nady; the bandha durree of Warrangal where the cotton thread is first subjected to tie-and-dye. Carpet weaving in the Himalayan regions is distinct. The famous Kashmiri carpets have special designs of Persians and Central Asian origin. Kashmir also offers other floor covering of distinct styles – the namdas, the gabbas and the hook rugs.

Pottery

The finest pottery in India is of the highly developed unglazed type. The unglazed varieties include kagzi, the light pottery of Alwar; black pottery of Kangra used for making various objects; black pottery of earlier, Kutch and now, Azamgarh (UP) with patterns of silver; the stylized pottery forms of Pokhran with incised ornamental patterns; the thin pottery of Kashmir. The most famous of the glazed pottery type is the blue pottery which is not traditionally prepared from clay. Delhi and Jaipur are major centres though Rampu and Khurja produce the variety from a base of red clay. The raised designs of surahis are applied with brown glaze by potters in Chunar (UP). Biscuit-ware made with incised designs are applied with blue/green glaze to produce a distinct style in Karigari (Tamil Nadu).

Terracota

The clay figures are usually of gods and goddesses for use in festivals. Notable are the terracotta image of Shyama Chak makde in Mithila (Bihar); the horse figures made in Bankura (West Bengal); the hand-moulded images, especially that of Ganesh, made in Molela (Rajasthan); and the Aiynar figures of Tamil Nadu.

Metalware

A range of metal work techniques have been perfected to produce household objects and also images of gods/goddesses. Apart from the casting of bell-metal (famous centres are in Kerala, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar) and sheet-metal (the deep repouse technique is specialized in Tanjore, Madras in Tamil Nadu, Varanasi in UP, Bhuj in Gujarat), there is the technique in which a mould representing the Initial form of the object to be cast is first prepared. Its centres are Moradabad (UP) and Jagadhri (Haryana). The lost wax process of bronze casting (ctreperdue) is well-development. To decorate the metal surface, popular are the Ganga-Jamuna technique; the Kqftgart of Kerala; the Bidri-damascening of silver on copper, Zinc vessels; the Tanjore plate work; and the niello work of Kashmir.

Stone-craving

India’s rich stone-carving tradition is evident in its many ancient monuments. Mainly images of deities and places of worship are built and carved out of stone. The stones used include marble (the Makarana marble being famous), for which Jaipur and Agra are well-known centres; the black stone, carving on which are a speciality of Dungarpur (Gujarat) and Mysore; the soft stone of Gaya; and the hard , granite stone, carving on which are a speciality of Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu), Orissa’s stone-carving tradition is deeply linked to rituals and religious beliefs.

Ivory-carving

An ancient craft with many centres that have developed their own styles. It is largely paractised in Delhi (ivory constume jewellery), Rajasthan and Gujarat (lathe-worked bangles)and Varanasi, Up(images of Buddha and Krishna). West Bengal carves pleasure boats and images of Durga. Kerala makes ivory images of gods/goddesses.

Carvings of bone and horn

Bone is used to carve animal figures (as in Orissa), and ornaments for ritual purposes in the Himalayan regions. Horns, mainly buffalo horns, are used to create figures and items like combs, buttons, cases and vases. Main centres are Cuttack, Parlakimedi (Orissa), Sarai Tarin (UP), Trtvandrum and Mysore

Woodwork

It is an ancient craft, with each region having its distinctive style. The places of worship (namghars)  and mythical images of Assam are traditionally of wood. Wood-carvings are seen in the temples, tathas of Orissa; pillars and beams of rural houses in West Bengal; facades, balconies of houses in Ahmedabad;rhe furnitures (lath-worked)of Sankheda, Gujarat South India is famous for its wood-carvings on rathams. Karnataka has its sandal-wood boxes and the houses in Kerala have wooden beams, ceiling, brackets, pillars. In Kashmir, there are utility goods of wood and even wooden mosques. The folk tradition is displayed in toys, figures of deities and goods for daily use and alive in Bassi village (Rajasthan), Bastar, Tirupati and Nirmal village (Andhra), and Tanjore which is famous for its dolls.

Mat weaving

Finely-woven mats of different masterials included the Pat tamadai reed mats fTinnevelll, Tamil Nadu), the phak reed mats (Manipur), the intricatery-patterned kora grass mats (Kerala), and the sitalpattt green cane and the Tnadhur-kothi grass mats of West Bengal,

Basket weaving 

Baskets are of various styles developed according to local traditions. The fine-quality cane and bamboo baskets of the north-east are well-known. The kulas (winnowing baskets of bamboo) of Bengal, chettinad baskets of Tamil Nadu and the cane baskets of Mysore are popular. Baskets made of grass included the spiral baskets of Punjab made of wild grass-sarkanda-with intricate patterns of date palm leaves; baskets of moon), grass, of UP and the coiled baskets of Bihar made of a rough mansoon grass. Baskets made from twigs of willow are a speciality of Kashmir.