We arrived in Delhi to cold, fog and smog. There was an eerie atmosphere in which you couldn’t see far beyond your immediate surroundings. The dramatic thunderstorm we awoke to this morning was even more strange for the this time of year.
Although the weather was unexpectedly cold, we arrived to a very warm welcome. On arriving at the DIA university in Delhi we were welcomed with tilaka on our foreheads and gifts of roses. We felt like royalty! We were later told that guests in India are treated as if they are gods – this was very evident during our stay.
In Delhi we visited Mughal architectural sites the Red Fort, Qutb Minar and Humayan’s tomb which have stayed remarkably intact and sit contrastingly alongside British colonial and post-independence architecture. We also visited Khan market, Connaught place and the Crafts Museum. The latter was a peaceful haven away from the bustle and traffic of the city and housed a collection of India’s vast range of crafts, categorised by region. It armed us with a little bit of knowledge to prepare us for visits to see these crafts being practiced.
From Delhi I split off from the group and made my way to Jaipur. Tourist central and a city with a rich royal heritage, Jaipur is exciting, manic (particularly walking through the old city), enlivening and exhausting all at the same time. I took a rickshaw to Amber, a busy route which as you get to the popular Amber fort, is absolutely packed with vehicles. But a mile or so further on, there is a quaint Haveli where the Anokhi museum of hand-printing is situated. The area exudes calm. The small track winding through the stone houses, wandering goats and playing children leads to a magnificently restored haveli – ‘an enclosed place’ in Persian – and traditionally a frescoed temple or mughal style courtyarded house.
There is a coffee shop in the quaint front terrace selling the famous and delicious Anokhi cakes and coffee. While I love local cuisine in India, when spending 3 months in Jaipur during my design placement, it was comforting to have relief from spice and indulge in freshly ground coffee and sugary goodness. On entering, the exhibits line the edges of the building, and up winding staircases onto wider floors above. On the top in the sunlit courtyard sits a block carver tapping away with his chisel, carving beautiful, intricate designs. He will make you a print if you ask nicely! There are love views of the surrounding hills from the top balcony and through the beautifully carved window frames. It was near the time of the kite festival while I was there, so there were children jumping about the crags flying their brightly coloured kites. So all in all, a perfect place to study the area’s renowned block printing. And of course there is a shop…
There is a company called Rangotri in Sanganeer which supplies these prints to furnishing companies all over the world. It is a quiet airy factory, a nice working environment for the printers and tailors. There is also a shop and showroom for buyers. Vikram, the founder was very helpful in answering questions for my research and showing me around.
I was lucky to be in the city when a Rajasthani folk concert at Diggi palace hotel was being held. This was by the Jaipur Virisat Foundation. Diggi palace is a huge Maharaja palace turned hotel, and the room the concert was held in, was adorned with floral frescoes and had huge chandeliers. A pretty courtyard in the surroundings of the impressive architecture was a romantic setting for a meal or just chilling out. The concert was in two halves. First some quiet peaceful folk music of three musicians – a tabla player, sitar player and ghatam (earthenware) pot player. Then there was some dancing along to folk musicians playing lively rhythms.
I have discovered a lovely guide book for Jaipur ‘Love Jaipur, Rajasthan‘ by Fiona Caulfield, not yet launched but was on sale in Anantaya – a design brand that makes luxury decorative homeware and accessories incorporating local traditional crafts. The guide book will be useful for art lovers, food lovers, and generally lovers of Indian culture. Its text and quirky illustrations are printed on hand-made paper and comes in a canvas case.
