The state of Maharashtra treasures a wide variety of handicrafts, most of them dating back to the ancient times of Marathas, Mughals, and even British rule. Maharashtra is the second largest population in India, houses various kinds of communities, cultures, and customs, making the existent handicrafts naturally diverse. Resting on the rich history and heritage, the top towns and cities here attract lakhs of tourists every year, especially in the parts of Pune, Nasik, Nagpur, Kolhapur, Mumbai, and Ajanta Ellora, boasting up the tourist value of the place. The state supports Handicrafts tradition practiced by the natives, to build avenues for its growth and survival while adding to the nation’s creative wealth simultaneously. Hence, the availability and diversity of Handicrafts from Maharashtra are huge. Some of the noted works include the famous Sawantwadi work, Bidri works, Kolhapuri leatherwork, Himroo and Mashru weaving, Warli painting, Banjara embroidery, and many more.
Mural Art
In ancient times, along with philosophical ideas, concepts of Indian art also spread widely to every corner of Asia. Mural art is one such estimable element in this treasury of crafts and ideas. A mural is a piece of art painted directly on a wall, ceiling, or other permanent surfaces, distinguished with its characteristic of maintaining the architectural grandeur of the given space harmoniously even when drawing over it. The history of Indian murals traces back to early medieval times, from the 2nd century BC to 8th – 10th century AD, with its sharp remains still found from almost 20 locations around the country including the cave monuments of Ajanta, Bagh, Sittanavasal, Armamalai, Ravan Chhaya rock shelter and Kailasanatha temple from Ellora Caves. During the 11th and 12th centuries, this pattern of large-scale wall paintings saw a slow shift to miniature paintings, which were first introduced on palm-leaf manuscripts, later to be depicted on ivory, small stones, papers, canvas, etc. The difference between murals and graffiti is often misunderstood for its motive behind the application. Murals are a piece of art created with the permission of the property owner and most of the times they are paid for doing so while graffiti is any unsanctioned material posted or painted on public or private property mostly to express dissent, aggression, or to claim areas through images, letter-based tags or designs. Many artists do Mural art as a hobby, some of them turn it into a profession. They displayed their creativity in their art gallery. Mrs. Shweta Khapekar is one such artist. She owns an art gallery named Shypra home decor at Nagpur. She is working on mural painting handicrafts for over four to five years. The home decors are being exported within India. The sizes are as per the customer’s requirement. The products are Mural painting, key holder, wall hanging, Clocks, wooden pot, mix medium, ceramic handicraft, and wooden handicraft.
