Stones -The skillful Art of Rajasthan :

Rajasthan is known to the World for its history, excellent art and marvelous architecture. stone carving is of the most complicated and tedious artworks in Rajasthan.

Stone carving is notable seen in and on different forts, Havelis, palaces, and temples. Rajasthan is pretty rich in various types of hard rocks. Some of them which are loved by the stone carvers are marble, granite, slate, and quartz.

There is a plenty of marble and sandstone available in Rajasthan which had helped the stone art and craving is one of the leading works of art in Rajasthan. The best feature of the stone art and carving is the jaali work. Beside this, statues and idols are also carved using stones. White marble, green Kota stone, white and grey soapstone and pink dholpur sandstone are the most commonly used materials for carving idols and statues.

Background :

The art of stone carving is dated back to the time when the Rajput rule was predominant in the state. The forts of Amer, Jaisalmer, Jalore, and Ranthambore were built during the rise of Rajput Empire which gave a new beginning to the work of stone carving. Along with the huge stone walls, these forts also had beautiful temples built inside the forts. The Rajput rulers invited the South Indian artists to Rajasthan to give the desired designs to the stones. These artists were highly skilled and made beautiful shrines. Ranakpur Jain Temple, created by Shobha Dev is one of the finest examples of the stone artwork.

The stone carving was not limited only to forts, palaces, and temples but it has been done on domes and nauchakis as well. The Mughal invasion provided a whole new look to the stone carvings. The Rajputs employed Muslim artisans who gave a new dimension to the artwork by combining the Rajput and Mughal styles of art and architecture.

The process of stone carving is pretty laborious and exhausting and requires a lot of patience and accuracy. Different tools are needed to carve different types of stones. Some of the common tools used for stone carving include toothed hammers, chisels, axes, mallets, etc. The process starts by cutting the stone to the required size. After that, the desired design is drawn on the stone. Next, with the help of different tools, the desired design is carved on the stone. It is a lengthy process where small pieces of stone can be carved in days while bigger pieces can take up to weeks or months.

Centre of Stone Carving :

Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan is the main center of the stone artwork. Artisans here can carve the stone in different items from idols and statues to the utensils like bowls, decorative goods, jewelry, etc. The other centers in Rajasthan are in Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur, and Udaipur.

Rajasthan is one of the largest centers for precious and semi-precious stones in the world. These stones are used for decorating stone carvings and making jewelry. These different colored stones can be carved and crafted for making traditional as well as contemporary jewelry.

Almost every type of jewelry, anklets to bracelets, necklaces, and earrings, can be made from the stones. The stones are inlaid into different metals with a lot of care and precision to create the jewelry which can be adorned with any type of attire and suits all occasions. The beautiful stones that are used for making the jewelry include Ruby, Topaz, Emerald, Amethyst, Lapis Lazuli, Agate, etc.

The garnet stone jewelry has its origin in Rajasthan and quite famous. This rock crystal is crafted into beads and necklaces. Stone jewelry is adorned by both men and women. Various types of pendants and earrings are carved from different types of semi-precious stones giving them a classy and elegant look.