Famous Arts and Craft of Jaisalmer Rajasthan | Handicraft Items

Art and craft, Jaisalmer Rajasthan

In a harsh and barren land, Jaisalmer gets its vibrancy from colour. Brilliant reds, blues, yellows and oranges contrasted with startling greens, purples and pinks are worn by men and women, changing the monotony of sand into a riot of colours.

The rulers and wealthy merchants of Jaisalmer employed a good number of artisans and craftsmen in various karkhanas and workshops in medieval times. Stone carving, textiles, printing, silverware and wood and metalwork of a sophisticated quality were all produced for the pleasure of the elite. The patrons have long vanished and today the craft survives mostly linked to the rural needs but also because some of it has found its place in the urban market.

In Jaisalmer, crafts remain closely linked with the ecology of the desert. Creativity has touched even the simplest and most functional objects. Two things strike you in Jaisalmer, the colour and richness of garments worn both by men and women and the amazing quality of stonework found on the façade of every house.

Cloth woven on the loom, printed, dyed and fashioned into garments, displays amazing range of colour and design unmatched by the sophisticated textile mill. Jaisalmer, Rajasthan is one of the main wool-weaving centres of the country. People rely largely on their livestock of sheep, goats and camel for wool. While the man tends to the animals, the woman spins the wool. It is then fashioned into ghagras, a long heavy skirt gathered at the waist, and ordhnis, a long unstitched piece of cloth with which women cover their head. Beautiful woollen blankets are also woven in Jaisalmer. Good quality shawls with interesting borders and coarse thickly-woven floor coverings or jaj are produced here. Dhurries are sturdier and more comfortable floor coverings on which intricate patterns in rich colours are woven. Under royal patronage dhurrie weaving became popular. Also Visit – Best luxury Rajasthan tour packages in India offered by Swan Tours.

Women from the Khatri community-Ajrak-Printing

Printing of cloth is done in two ways, either by the direct method or by the resist printing process. Ajrakh is a very special resist printing technique in Jaisalmer Rajasthan. Intricate patterns are created with indigo and red, sometimes on both sides of the cloth. This is the craft of the Khatri community. It is used on shoulder cloth for the men and also on bedspreads sold in the cities. There are a vast variety of embroidery traditions specific to the region. This finds expression on the ghagras and cholis or woman's bodice. Intricate patterns on chunris are made using the tie-and-dye process.

The city of Jaisalmer built on Trikuta hill and surrounded by golden limestone hillocks is a marvel of Rajasthani stone architecture. Here nature, spaces and man-made structures blend in perfect unity. Besides the intricately carved palace and haveli façades, simple domestic abodes of great beauty abound in Jaisalmer. Every nook and cranny springs delights of architectural beauty and fine stone tracery. Some peasant homes in and around Jaisalmer are beautifully decorated in mirror and papier-mâché especially storage shelves. Gold is sacred and is associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity. Gold has always had a special status as a medium of exchange and as a good investment. The warrior class and the royalty made lavish use of jewellery in gold and precious stones for ornaments and weapons. Also Visit – Best Jaisalmer tour packages offered by Swan Tours.

Affluent societies de-light in the power and mystique of gold, while the proud Rajasthani villager finds joy in the buoyancy and supple muscularity of silver. To Rajasthani peas-ants and tribals, Jewelry serves a wide variety of needs, other than adornment. For the Gujjar men the quarter kilo silver kara, worn around the wrist, can act as an effective weapon while the weight of the tag.' worn seductively just below the waist, is believed to keep women in good physical shape. At gatherings, such as fairs and religious festivals, where people come from far and wide, jewellery becomes a way of identifying a person's caste, social and marital status. Rajasthan has played an important role in the history and development of Indian art from the earliest time. In the Jain temples of Jaisalmer some of the oldest painted palm leaf manuscripts and manuscript covers dating to the 11th century are preserved.

Though there are no large forest tracts in Jaisalmer and wood is not commonly found, the crafts-men have adorned whatever wood they handled, in architecture, in furniture and in objects. A five-tiered pagoda-like tower adorns the Mandir Palace, the present residence of the royal family. This resembles a tazia—the ornate bamboo frame covered with paper cutwork and tinsel—carried in procession on the Muslim festival of Muharram. This tazia tower was built free of cost by a guild of Muslim craftsmen as a gift for their royal patron. The Patwon ki Haveli in the town also has some fine examples of high quality wood craftsmanship.  

Musicians, their music and instruments

The rhythmic and hearty folk songs of the Thar represent the vibrancy of the people and culture here. Some strains of Hindustani classical music may have found their way into the folk music of the region. But unlike classical Hindustani music that follows a strict system of rules, Rajasthani folk music enjoys more freedom. Various forms may be identified among the folk music of the region. A very popular form is the maand sung by both the Langas and Manganiyars. The famous composition Kesariya Balam falls in this category.

Folk Music of Rajasthan

The 'sangra' sung to a sarangi by the Langas and to a khamaycha by the Manganiyars is another popular composition about a woman lamenting the absence of her lover or spouse. Interestingly it is al-ways sung by men and is always in the future tense. There is an entire plethora of religious folk music dedicated to various gods and goddesses, songs about the love of Radha and Krishna, songs related to the epics, the beauty of the paniharee, the woman carrying water in a pot over her head, barslo songs about rain, halariyo songs sung at birth—songs to be sung at every occasion.

Musicians have two essential sets of auspicious musical instruments, which they play at ceremonies. The first is of the dhol or a large, two-headed cylindrical drum and the thaali or a small circular instrument made of bell metal which always accompanies the former. The second set is comprised of the surnai, a kind of oboe, which is accompanied by the dholak, a barrel-shaped wooden drum, and nagara or battle drums. However, their true musical virtuosity lies in the playing of the khamaycha, which is a bow string instrument to accompany vocalists that unfortunately is under threat of extinction. The pyaledar sarangi is a string instrument, typical of this region.

Other instruments that are used include the jatara, a drone instrument that provides a basic rhythmic pattern, the chaurtaro, a string instrument used for devotional songs, the murali or double-reed gourd pipe, the morchang which is similar to a Jewish harp and the khadtaal or castanets used to create intricate rhythmic patterns and sounds of varying pitches and intensity. Small children training as musicians can be seen using them as part of the musical group. The folk music and the musical instruments of this region share closeness with the ethnic music of Sind and Afghanistan. Not surprisingly as in so many aspects of life in the Jaisalmer region, the exchange over the border continues into the realm of music and seeps into the souls of the people for whom the border is just an artificial boundary and will remain so.

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