What to Buy in Rajasthan: Block Prints, Blue Pottery and Stone

Blue pottery is the first thing to understand about what to buy in Rajasthan, because it contains no clay at all. It is a frit of quartz powder, ground glass, fuller's earth, borax and gum, closer to Egyptian faience than to anything thrown on a wheel. Block prints, bandhani cloth and blue tiles are the rest of it, and what a printed metre is worth in a Jaipur shop depends on which village made it.

Everything here travels home as luggage, usually by air out of Jaipur or Udaipur. The guide to preparing for travelling in India holds the baggage side, and the rest is about what is worth the weight.

What to buy in Rajasthan

Grouped by craft, and by whether the thing is made where you are standing.

• Block prints. Hand-blocked cotton from Bagru and Sanganer, by the metre or made up.
• Blue pottery. Jaipur's frit ware, in tiles, bowls, knobs and plates.
• Tie-dye. Bandhani and leheriya, in cotton, silk and georgette.
• Stone and marble. Carved inlay and lattice, from the Jaipur and Makrana workshops.
• Leather and footwear. Jutis from Jodhpur and Jaipur, and camel leather from Bikaner.
• Kota doria. The fine checked weave from Kota, in cotton and silk.

Block prints, and how Bagru differs from Sanganer

Both are hand block prints from villages near Jaipur, and both took a Geographical Indication tag in 2024. The difference is the ground the pattern sits on.

• Bagru. Natural dyes, indigo for blue, madder root for red, iron filings for black.
• Dabu. Bagru's mud-resist method, using clay, gum and millet chaff to block the dye.
• The look. Bagru runs earthy, on an off-white or dyed ground, with the resist visible.
• Sanganer. Finer floral work, traditionally on a white ground, and historically the more courtly of the two.
• Who makes it. The Chhipa community has printed at Bagru for generations.
• How to check. Hand blocks leave small registration gaps and uneven edges. Screen prints do not.

The GI tag is recent and it matters for one practical reason. A great deal of what is sold as Bagru or Sanganeri in city emporia is screen printed elsewhere, and the mark is now the only thing separating the two in a shop window.

Blue pottery, the Persian craft Jaipur nearly lost

The blue-glaze technique reached India from Persia and Central Asia with the Turkic conquests of the fourteenth century, and Jaipur had all but lost it by the 1950s. It is made without clay, which is the first thing to know before buying any of it.

• What it is made of. Quartz stone powder, powdered glass, multani mitti, borax and gum. A ceramic frit, the same family as Egyptian faience.
• Why it is fragile. Low firing and no clay body, so it chips rather than cracks. It will not survive a careless bag.
• How it got here. The blue-glaze technique travelled from Persia and Central Asia and reached India with Turkic conquests in the fourteenth century.
• When it nearly died. It had almost disappeared from Jaipur by the 1950s.
• Who saved it. The painter Kripal Singh Shekhawat revived it, with Kamladevi Chattopadhaya and Rajmata Gayatri Devi behind him.
• What to buy. Tiles and door knobs travel far better than bowls.

Tie-dye, bandhani and the cloth of the desert

Bandhani is tied in dots and leheriya is rolled and tied in diagonals, and the two are often sold under one word. The number of tie points is the price.

• Bandhani. Thousands of small points tied by hand, then dyed. The unopened cloth is the proof.
• Leheriya. Rolled on the diagonal and tied, giving stripes rather than dots.
• How to tell hand from print. Hand-tied cloth comes folded and unopened, with the ties still in.
• Where. Jodhpur, Jaipur and Sikar for bandhani, Jaipur and Udaipur for leheriya.
• Kota doria. A separate thing, woven rather than dyed, light enough to see through.

Where to shop in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer

Each city holds a different craft and the emporia hold all of them at a markup. Buying at the workshop is the difference.

• Jaipur. Johari Bazaar for cloth and stones, Bagru and Sanganer villages for prints, Kripal Kumbh for blue pottery.
• Jodhpur. Sardar Market for bandhani and spices, and the lanes around it for jutis.
• Jaisalmer. Embroidery, mirror work and camel leather, in the lanes inside the fort.
• Udaipur. Miniature painting and silver, around Jagdish Temple.
• Government emporia. Fixed price, honest quality, no bargaining and no workshop story.
• What to avoid. Any shop a driver takes you to without being asked.

What not to buy in Rajasthan

Short list, and two of these are legal rather than aesthetic.

• Antiques and anything over a hundred years old. Export is controlled and needs a certificate from the ASI.
• Anything made from wildlife. Illegal, and still offered as bone, shell or feather.
• Screen prints sold as hand block. Check the edges and the registration.
• Gemstones as an investment. Jaipur cuts stones beautifully and the resale story is somebody else's.
• Blue pottery dinner sets. They are lovely and they will not reach home intact.

Most of the money in Rajasthan's crafts leaves the state with a middleman rather than the maker, which is why the village workshop is worth the detour from the emporium. Our eleven day journey through Marwar and the Thar Desert runs through the towns where the cloth is actually printed and tied. Customised tours is where workshop stops get built into a route rather than bolted on. What travellers say about buying well and what they do are not always the same thing.

Also Read

1. Things to Know Before Planning a Trip to Rajasthan
2. What Local Food Teaches You About a Place
3. Responsible Travel Destinations in India, and How to Get There

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Jaipur blue pottery made of clay?

No, and that is the unusual thing about it. The dough is quartz stone powder, powdered glass, multani mitti, borax and gum, which makes it a ceramic frit rather than pottery. It is fired at a low temperature, so it chips easily and travels badly in a soft bag.

What is the difference between Bagru and Sanganeri printing?

Both are hand block prints from villages near Jaipur and both received a GI tag in 2024. Bagru uses natural dyes and the dabu mud-resist method, giving earthier colours on a dyed or off-white ground. Sanganeri is finer floral work traditionally printed on a white ground.

What is worth buying in Rajasthan?

Hand block printed cotton from Bagru or Sanganer, blue pottery tiles and knobs rather than tableware, and hand-tied bandhani still folded with the ties in. Kota doria and carved stone inlay both travel well. Buying at the workshop rather than the emporium is what changes the price and the maker's share.

Which Jaipur market is worth the time?

Johari Bazaar for cloth and stones, and the villages of Bagru and Sanganer for block prints at the source. Blue pottery is best bought at a working studio rather than a shop. Government emporia are fixed price and honest, and they are the right answer if you have one afternoon.

Can you take antiques out of India?

Not freely. Anything over a hundred years old is controlled under Indian antiquities law and needs clearance from the Archaeological Survey of India. The practical rule is to avoid buying old objects at all, because the certificate is the seller's responsibility and is often not produced.