Arts & Crafts of Delhi
Speciality: Amalgam Of All Major Crafts Of India
Developed During: Moughal Era
CARPET WEAVING
Carpet weaving came into prominence during the Mughal era, when Akbar
brought Persian weavers to India. The main centres of carpet making were
Srinagar ,
Lahore, Amritsar, Sind, Multan, and Allahabad. At one time Delhi
was a centre for the production of Herati carpets, which were designed
after the style of those made in Herat, Afghanistan. 
Known for their harmonious colours, the design of these carpets was kind
of standard. The border was usually a broad band separated from the centre
and edged on the outer side by one or two narrow bands filled with bold
and conventional flower designs.
GEMS, KUNDAN & MEENAKARI JEWELLERY
Delhi is home to two very special kind of jewellery encouraged and
patronized to the level of an art form by the Mughals. The meeting of
Hindu and Muslim cultures during the Mughal rule created a rich variety of
designs and during this time the art of Kundan was introduced to India.
Western influences during the British rule prompted the use of open-claw
settings in preference to the traditional kundan gulband (choker),
dastband (bracelet) and karnaphul (earrings) settings.
The 17th century saw the greatest proliferation of design and forms,
which evolved then, have endured. In this century advances have been made
in the technique of enamelling and stone encrusting. Today, new forms,
requiring harder metal have come into vogue. Pure gold being extremely
pliable was found unsuited to these forms and of necessity a quality of
alloy became acceptable.
Kundan is the Mughal-inspired art of setting of stones in gold and
silver. Gems are bedded in a surround of gold leaf rather than secured by
a rim or claw. Hindu Punjabis brought Meenakari, or the skill of
enamelling, from Lahore to Delhi. The Mughal fashion was to enamel the
reverse side of jewellery to protect it from contact with the wearer's
skin.
Enamelling is a technique, in which hollows made in metal surface are
filled with coloured enamels. With intricate designs executing detail,
meenakari articles have a delicate and lyrical quality about them.
Do visit Dariba Kalan near Chandni
Chowk, which is known as the jewellers' street. Another special
thing to look out for is setting of the 'navratanas' or the nine precious
stones in gold, which comprise of rubies, diamonds, blue sapphires,
emerald, yellow sapphires, cat's eyes, coral, hessonite garnet and pearls.
This is a traditional skill practised by Muslim craftsmen called
'saadegars' who settled in Delhi during Shahjahan's reign. Sarafs,
traditional Hindu jewellers who have been around for centuries, are still
present and doing good business too
BAMBOO WORK
Chicks are window screens made of bamboo slats and are tied with plain or
coloured string in designs all over northern India. Delhi also happens to
be an important centre for chairs and stools made of the tall golden-white
sarkanda grass, which grows in abundance in the capital's area.
IVORY CARVING
Delhi is where the art of ivory carving flourished under the influence of
the Mughal princes. The art developed a characteristic form with the use
of floral motifs and intricate geometrical patterns worked in fine
jali-lattice work.
Delhi craftsmen also make the elephant with the hoodah, the whole
structure carved out of just one piece. The chains and jewels decorating
the elephant are all delicately caved out of a solid piece of ivory and
each link can be separately lifted. Besides, the virtuosity in technique,
the stylisation is similar to the Mughal tradition of sculpture. Delhi has
also grown in importance as a manufacturing centre of ivory jewellery.
Craftsmen over here also excel in manufacturing small items, such as
intricately made beaded necklaces where each bead is worked in the form of
a rose bud or chrysanthemum in full bloom with its leaves and tendrills in
the background carved in an intricate jali. Carved ivory bangles,
ear-studs and a variety of other utility items such as paper knives,
cocktail pins, decorative hairpins, ivory cuff links and buttons are some
articles produced in Delhi in large quantities. Ivory
Palace in Shahjhanabad a 300-year-old shop that used to attract the best
craftsmen back then and a place to check out for.
LEATHERWARE
During the Mughal period, Delhi was an important centre of leatherwork.
Traditional leather jooties or ethnic footwear and slippers, which were
sometimes ornamented with pearls, gold and silver were the piece beyond
resistance. Embroidered bags, shoes, leather garments, leather seats,
puffs or pidis were other popular items.
MINIATURE PAINTING
The Delhi school is a direct offshoot of the Mughal School. Mansoor, a
famous painter of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir's court, is said to be the
author of this school and his direct descendants can still be found
following in his footsteps. Known for its dynamism and naturalism, this
school used a strong contrast in colours and the paintings, which were
done on ivory. Now because of the ban on ivory, a special handmade paper
is used to create these exquisite paintings
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Throughout history Delhi has been associated with the making of musical
instruments, along with Calcutta, Lucknow, Banaras, Lahore, and Tanjore.
There are still some old shops located in the capital where musical
instruments are assembled. Check out Bina Musical Stores at Nai Sarak,
Delhi Musical Store at Jama Masjid
and Lahore Music House at Daryaganj, to hear the mesmerising sounds of the
traditional musical instruments.
PAPER CRAFT
Talk of paper craft brings one inside the patang (kite) market in Lal
Kuan bazaar in Old Delhi. These colourful, feather-light kites come in all
shapes and sizes, as kite flying is an important national pastime.
Tazia is the next most popular paper craft. A commemorative paper
structure, it consists of coloured bits of paper pasted on a bamboo frame
and carried in the Moharram procession. Tazias are used for a happy
purpose too during the Phoolwalon ki Sair held every September in the
capital.
Another papercraft that takes a lot of hard work is Effigy-Making. The
real effect of this art can be seen when the Hindu festival
of Dusshera comes round. Huge
effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkarna and Meghnath are laboriously erected and
then burnt on Dusshera to uphold the victory of truth and justice.
POTTERY
In Delhi, terracotta pottery, is the one whose products make perfect
souvenirs to take home. Some prominent terracotta items include cutwork
lamps, long necked surahis (water-pots), gamle (flowerpots), pitchers and
cups of all shapes and sizes. To get hold of quality earthenware, check
out the Crafts Museum in
Pragati Maidan,
Dilli Haat and just
outside the New Delhi Railway Station.
The art of making blue glaze pottery came to Delhi via Kashmir, the
Mughal emperors' favourite retreat, and rolled on to Jaipur. The
traditional Persian designs are much more in demand nowadays. Apart from
the predictable urns, jars, pots and vases, one can also find tea sets,
cups and saucers, plates and glasses, jugs, ashtrays and even napkin
rings. The colour palette is restricted to blue derived from the oxide of
cobalt, green from the oxide of copper and white, though other
non-conventional colours such as yellow and brown have jumped into the
fray too.
SHELLAC BANGLES
Delhi and Rajasthan
are two main places in India, which are regarded as the home of shellac
work. Do check out the brightly coloured dazzling bangles, often studded
with glass gems, spirals of base-metal wire, foil and spangles. They make
inexpensive but an unusual present for friend's too.
WOOD INLAY OR WOODWORK
Because of the Mughal patronage, Delhi became a thriving centre for all
sorts of crafts, among them wood inlay work too. The Mughals loved
decoration done with woodwork and their demand encouraged communities of
Persian inlay artisans to settle in Delhi. Coloured woods, horn and even
plastic are lovingly set into carved surfaces of a range of household
objects, jewellery boxes and curios.
Recently Delhi has developed a number of successful designs for
furniture. Well-known designers, entrepreneurs, and furniture firms have
revived several local designs for lathing, carving and inlay and the
number of successful workshops for artistic and functional furniture
continues to increase.
ZARI, GOTA, KINARI & ZARDOZI
Zari is gold, and zardozi embroidery is the glitteringly ornate, heavily
encrusted gold thread work practised in Delhi and a few
other cities of India. Zari threads are used extensively in handloom and
powerloom saris, which are manufactured all over India. Either real silver
thread, gold-plated thread or an imitation, which has a copper base gilded
with gold or silver colour, is used for zari work.
Traditionally made for Mughal and Rajput nobility, it has now been
officially adopted as bridalwear. Nowadays synthetic or 'tested' zari
embroidery is done. Cast metals are melted and pressed through split steel
sheets, to be converted into wires. Then they are hammered to the required
thinness. Plain wire is called badla, and when wound round a thread, it is
called kasav. Smaller spangles are called sitara, and tiny dots made of
badla are called mukaish.
Associated to appliqué, gota work involves placing woven gold
cloth onto other fabric to create different surface textures. Kinari or
edging is the fringed or tasselled border decoration, predominantly
practised by Muslim craftsmen.
A Celebration Of Style
Zardosi is heavy embroidery with silver and gold threads as also wire -
known as salma or sitara, on rich textiles like silk and velvet. The
pattern is first drawn and carved on wooden blocks. The embroidery process
begins by stamping the pattern with aid of gum and chalk or occasionally
with paper stencils onto the fabric, which is streched on a wooden frame,
known as karchob.
The craftsmen then start the actual embroidery, using needles of
different sizes. Often readymade shapes of maal, with names such as
nakshi, sadi kora and kangani are stitched on to form a variety of zardosi
patterns. This material is purchased by weight and is available in grouped
sections or bunches known as lachis, held together with a fine string.
Says famous designer Abu Jani " Zardosi is done with regular needle
so each stitch is what is called pukka kaam or finished work, it endures
since each stitch is knotted." Designers like Abu Jani and Sandeep
Khosla have added real value to Indian fashion by reviving the almost
dying styles of garment embellishments like zardosi. Kinari Bazaar in
Delhi has a wide range of these dazzling garments on display and for sale.
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