Arts Tour in India

The traditions of Indian arts and crafts are some of the oldest and diverse in the world. They represent a unique and continuous ethos and aesthetic sensibility right through thousands of years – that has seen a remarkable ability to assimilate, remake, re-shape the incoming styles, ideas, artists and techniques and yet retain the core essence.

Indian crafts are a riot of colour, textures and motifs, materials and mediums that changes with each region, village and community having its own distinct style and history. The history, weather, geography and economic condition also have a great effect on the types of art and crafts found. Normally the techniques and skills are passed down families, fathers to sons, mothers to daughters or within communities or schools. Traditionally there have always been guilds – at times one’s caste decided the crafts and arts one could practice.

The earliest specimens of Indian arts and crafts go back 4500 years to Indus Valley Civilization or Harappa Culture. The best examples of Harappa Culture include jewelry, seals, pottery, toys, games, terracotta, shell and bead making and bronze figures. The finer crafts of India had flourished over the centuries thanks to royal patronage and trade demand. So jewellery, embroidery, silk, brocades, ivory and bone carving, carpets and silver ware were in demand in the country and else ware. However, colonial times and post independence saw a decline in demand, so a lot of craftsman’s had to change professions, as there was no longer a great demand or enough royal or other patronage.

Craft Tours With Us

The Indian handicrafts range from wooden artifacts, clay pots, terracotta products, metallic ornaments, pottery, sculptures to glass pieces. These arts and crafts are specimens of the cultural diversity and rich artistic tradition of the country. Our tailor-made arts and crafts tours are an apt introduction to the unrivalled craftsmanship of the region for the ‘curious’ and a journey into their intricacies for the ‘connoisseur’. We will take you to rural India where arts and crafts exist in their original form and offer you interactive sessions with the artists, artisans, craftsmen and weavers who will share their skills and stories about their life and work. We will also take you to explore the vibrant and colorful bazaars brimming with local crafts.

Indeed, if you do not want to travel full two-three weeks doing a ‘crafts tour’ we can seamlessly insert few day of interaction with local artisans during a more ‘regular’ tour of yours – wherever you might be in India, an amazing handicraft tradition would surely be round the corner.

Sample Itinerary: Traditional Indian Crafts

• Delhi has numerous art galleries housing artifacts from ancient times and bazaars displaying arts and crafts from all over India
• Drive to Agra which is known for marble-made handicrafts including miniature sculptures of the Taj Mahal
• Drive to Jaipur known for its Meenakari work on gold and silver jewellery, blue pottery made of clay, and metal-work with statues of god and goddesses. Jaipur is also the hub of block-printed textiles and a workshop for the same will be arranged
• Drive to the historic city of Udaipur whose museum houses one of the finest collections of Rajput miniature paintings. Udaipur is the venue of an yearly (December) Shilpgram Fair which is a living ethnographic museum depicting the enormous diversities in craft, art and culture of India