Marble Handicrafts- Indian Marble Handicrafts

Modern figurative sculpture inspired by classical art and the Renaissance, a new direction based on the human figure.
There are back lanes in Jaipur that ring with the sound of diamond-tipped chisels and hammers, carefully chipping away at blocks of marble and red or yellow sandstone. Till the royalty held sway in India, stone carving received ample patronage in the form of architectural commissions. In fact, when founding the city of Jaipur, Sawai Jai Singh earmarked a whole lane for stone carvers, naming it Silawaton ka Mohalla. Some of Jaipur’s best showpieces are the latticework in the City Palace; the sandstone carvings and ornamental stonework at the Hawa Mahal and the Amber Fort gateways.

Today, the stone carvers have to make do with idol making and sculptures. The heart of this industry lies in the southwest quarter of Jaipur. White Makrana marble is carted here in roughly-shaped blocks. A row of holes is drilled and iron wedges hammered into it till the block breaks down along its line of weakness. To craft the figure, a vertical line is drawn along the axis and the sculptor keeps shaping the outline as he goes along. It’s all done very carefully as even a slight crack renders the idol useless for worship. Apart from gods and goddesses, these men who transform stone into poetry, also fashion animals, human figures and plain geometric form.

The stone-carving tradition in India is one of the richest in the world. Guilds of masons and stone carvers have existed here since the 7th century B.C. The skills were handed down as family lore from father to son, a practice prevalent in some parts of the country even today. The classical tradition of stone carving was closely linked with architecture. All major temples of India-be it Puri, Konark, Khajuraho, Kailash Temple, or the Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram-illustrate the rich tradition of Indian stone carvings. The geologically old land of Rajasthan, rich in different kinds of hard rocks like granites, marbles, quartzite, slates, and other metamorphic rocks, has been a stone-carver's paradise. Right from the medieval times, the ready availability of high-quality stone (the use of brick was almost unknown) made it easy for the Rajasthani builder to construct strong and beautiful forts, palaces, and temples. The sculptures found in the ancient and medieval temples of Bharatpur, Baroli, Ramgarh, Nagda, Ajmer, Chittor, Mandore, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, and Udaipur speak highly of the artistic skills of the Rajasthani stonecutters. Apart from temple carvings, the stone carvers of Rajasthan are noted for their jali (latticework) carvings. Most ancient palatial buildings of Rajasthan sport jali work on their doors and windows. The jali screens, sculpted from both sandstone and marble, were frequently used in the windows of the zenanas (women's quarters) enabling the women in purdah to view the events of the courts without being seen. The screens also offered protection from the elements while allowing the passage of fresh air through the intricate geometric patterns. Rajasthan continues to be one of major centres of stone carving in the country. The capital city Jaipur is the centre of marble carving in Rajasthan. Here one can see artisans creating marble images of the deities as well as domestic utensils such as bowls for grinding spices and kneading dough. At Ajmer, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Bikaner, one comes across some very fine examples of the intricate jali work done on screens and panels of the royal palaces

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