Indian villages preserve ancient crafts
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Across India, artisans in five villages, Raghurajpur, Pipili, Nirona, Hodka, and Channapatna, continue to practice traditional crafts passed down through generations.
In Raghurajpur, Odisha, almost every home serves as a workshop for Pattachitra painting and other art forms depicting Hindu mythology. Nearby, Pipili also in Odisha, specialises in Chandua appliqué, a fabric technique used to decorate religious items like the chariots for the Rath Yatra festival.
In Gujarat’s Kutch region, Nirona stands out because artisans there work with multiple crafts, including Rogan painting, copper bell making, and lacquered wood. Hodka, also in Kutch, preserves embroidery and leatherwork alongside unique circular mud houses called bhungas, and offers a rural tourism model where visitors can stay within the village. Karnataka’s Channapatna, known as “Toy Town,” has produced lacquered wooden toys for over 200 years.
Artisans there use locally grown wood and traditional techniques, and the craft now has a Geographical Indication (GI) tag recognising its regional importance. These villages demonstrate how traditional crafts can both endure and evolve to meet contemporary demands.
