Shilpgram-The Life in Crafts

Art and crafts have always been a predominant domain of human interest.To fulfill that earnest desire of getting acquainted with the world of art and craft man has striven to build craft-friendly abodes on numerous occassions. Shilpgram is also such an abode which lends a patronage to ever-glowing charm of ethnic arts and crafts.The literal meaning of shilpgram is "village of crafts" or a place where large number of specimens of art and craft are showcased by the original artists.This is located 3 kilometers to the west of Fatah Sagar Lake in Udaypur Rajasthan.

Its a State sponsored living musium stretched on a 70 acre land on the foothills of Arawali.Shilpgram or the Rural Arts and Crafts Village in Udaipur is one of the seven centers of the West Zone Cultural Center (WZCC), established by the government in 1986. This Shilpgram is home to the craft world of states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa , as the specimens of artisans of these states produce works of the wonderful crafts. WZCC is involved in the promotion and preservation of the art and culture of the western region of India.

Representative Huts

There are 26 representative huts of member statets in this craft village , incorporating traditional architectural features of different ethnic groups residing within the Zone.

These ethnic rural huts of folk and tribal communities,include various household articles of everyday use, along with votive and decorative objects and lifestyle mirrors . The central idea is to present the rich diversity of design and aesthetic sense in the folk and tribal arts, crafts and architecture. The most significant fact is that each hut has been constructed painstakingly by the dwellers themselves with help from traditional artisans.

Thar in Being

There are two Hut pavillions which represent the weaver community from Marwar, the desert region of western Rajasthan.These two wonderful structures are named after respective sand-bound villages of Rama and Sam. The beauty of the two huts is that they are built entirely from natural materials of the Thar, whether it is stone, mud, wood or grass. The interesting thing about these huts is that they remain cool in summer and warm in winter.