Bhuj

Next visit the beautiful Kutch Village of Bhirandiyara, a cluster of about 20 houses and every member of the village is an artisan in some way. The town is most famous for its fresh MAAVO, milk reduced to a thick fudge-like consistency & sweetened with sugar. The local meghwal community is known for its fine embroidery & colourful mud bhungas which is major tourist attraction.

Visit some local markets in Bhuj. The craftsmen in and around Bhuj have good hands on Khadi work, block print, tie and dye, colourful thread work and embroidery work. Also the handloom products of Bhuj are famous all over because of its finished intricate mirror work and brilliant colour combinations.

Ludiya village inhabited by the Meghwal Community, flaunts beautifully painted circular huts organized around the temple. Between the vibrant Kanjari Blouse of the women & the men hunched over the various corners carving wood. The village is an aesthetic delight.

At the last visit Shrujan (meaning Creativity in Sanskrit), is a not-for-profit organization working with craftswomen in Kutch to revitalize the ancient craft of hand embroidery. Shrujan craftswomen create a range of beautiful hand embroidered items.

Located about 50 and 20 Km to Bhuj are the villages of Dhamadka and Dhaneti where you can see traditional ajrakh block printing using natural dyes and the traditional embroidery work of the Ahir community in Dhaneti.

Less than 100 km away from Bhuj, this sanctuary is spread over an area of about 7505.22 sq. km. in the Kutch District of Gujarat. This wildlife sanctuary is considered as one of the largest seasonal saline wetland areas.

A major center of the Ajrakh block-printing technique. Ajrak is the name of a block printed cloth with deep crimson red and indigo blue background, bearing symmetrical patterns with interspersed unprinted sparkling white motifs. The highly valued Ajrak has also been made in Kutch for the Maldharis or cattle herders’ communities since the time Khatris migrated from Sindh in the 16th century.

Dhaneti is famous for mirror embroidery work done by the Ahir Community. The community believes to have descended from Lord Krishna. Their embroidery is dense, bright and colorful.

Here we can see women working on spinning and making thread spinning for looms, quite interesting to see and post that you enter in shop filled with stuff like cloth, home stuff, slippers , bags etc.

Sumrasar is a weaving village and specializing in Suf, Rabari and Garasia Jat embroidery. Visit the home of local weaver and learn about this art. We will also have an opportunity to visit the local school and interact with the friendly school kids. The village set up is very interesting to observe the daily village life.

Bandhani is an expression used in Gujarat for textiles where different designs are produced by tying individual parts of the fabric before dying. The Gujrati word‘ Bandhavun’ is derived from the Sanskrit word for tying ‘Bandhan’. The people engaged in producing designs on fabric as a result of tie-dying technique are known as ‘Bandhej’.