Crafts and making
Weaving, pottery, carving and other handed-down skills.
Crafts and making are the skills of hand and eye that are handed down in families and workshops: weaving, pottery, carving, metalwork, embroidery, dyeing, basketry, paper, leather and wood. A craft tradition is also a tradition of knowledge, about plants, clays, tools and patterns, and of values such as patience and care. Here they are listed by country, with notes on where the craft is practised and how makers keep it alive.
Skill passed on
Most crafts are learnt by watching a parent or master for years. A weaver in Bonwire, a potter in Oaxaca, a lacquer worker in Kyoto and a carpenter in Norway all learn by doing. Some crafts are kept within a family or a caste, others are open to anyone willing to learn. The tools are often simple and the techniques ancient, though the best makers experiment within the tradition.
Craft in a changing world
Mass production and cheap imports have put many crafts under pressure, but there is also a revival, with designers, schools, cooperatives and fair trade shops supporting makers. UNESCO and national bodies list living treasures and protect skills. Buyers can help by choosing handmade pieces and asking who made them. A craft survives when someone still wants the object and someone still wants to learn to make it.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Crafts and making (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇮🇳 Paithan, IndiaPaithani
A handwoven silk sari from Maharashtra, with a squared border and a peacock palluDress
🇮🇳 IndiaWarli painting
Sacred white rice paste murals made on red clay walls in western IndiaCraft
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreNakshi kanthaনকশি কাঁথা
A traditional embroidered quilt from Bengal, made by stitching layers of old cloth into colourful, patterned textiles.Craft
🇮🇳 Lucknow, IndiaChikankariچِکن کاری / चिकन की कढ़ाई / चिकनकारी
Delicate hand embroidery from Lucknow, India, featuring white-on-white floral patterns and intricate shadow-work stitcheCraft
🇮🇳 Kolhapur, IndiaKolhapuri chappal
Handcrafted braided leather slip-on sandals from western IndiaCraft
🇮🇳 IndiaDhokra
A lost-wax metal casting craft kept by tribal artisans in eastern and central India for over four millennia.Craft
🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan and 2 moreSouth Asian truck art
The craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.Craft
🇮🇳 India and 1 morePhulkariਫੁਲਕਾਰੀ
Geometric and floral threadwork embroidered by Punjabi women on handwoven cotton.Craft
🇮🇳 Bhuj, India and 1 moreBandhani
Tie-dye cloth from India, knotted by hand and dipped in dye to leave dot patternsCraft
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreJamdaniজামদানি
A fine handwoven cotton cloth of Bengal, patterned with motifs worked in by handCraft
🇮🇳 India and 2 morePandal
Temporary decorated pavilions and arches built for festivals and gatheringsFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaSanjhi
Autumn devotion honoring a mother goddess and sacred floor art of Radha and KrishnaSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaGamosaগামুছা
A white Assamese cloth with a red border, worn, gifted and laid under sacred textsDress
🇮🇳 Srinagar, India and 3 morePashmina
Ultra-fine wool of Himalayan goats, hand-woven in Kashmir into shawls of rankDress
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreSariसाड़ी
An unstitched length of cloth that women drape around the body, worn across South AsiaDress
🇮🇳 Lucknow, India and 5 moreKurtaکرته (Persian), कुरता (Hindi)
A loose collarless tunic from South Asia, worn plain or embroidered over pyjamas or jeansDress
🇵🇰 Multan, Pakistan and 3 moreShalwar kameez
Loose trousers and a long tunic, worn as one outfit across South AsiaDress
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreKolamகோலம்
A rice-flour floor drawing made at South Indian doorsteps before sunriseCraft
🇮🇳 Nadia, IndiaDhunachi
A Bengali incense burner, swung in worship and danced with at Durga PujaSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreRangoliरंगोली
Floor patterns of rice flour, sand or petals, drawn at the doorstep for festivalsCraft
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreKasayaकाषाय
The traditional patchwork robes worn by ordained Buddhist monasticsDress
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreMuslin
A fine handwoven cotton from Bengal, once famed worldwide and woven again todayCraft
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSalwar
Loose trousers gathered at the ankle, worn with a kameez across South AsiaDress
🇮🇳 IndiaShamianaশামিয়ানা (Bengali); شامیانہ (Urdu)
A ceremonial tent of cloth and wooden poles, raised for weddings, feasts and partiesFestival
🇮🇳 Bagh, IndiaBagh print
Hand block printed cloth from a village in Madhya Pradesh, dyed red and black on whiteCraft
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreCholi
A cropped, fitted bodice worn with saris and ghagras across South AsiaDress
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreDhaka topiढाका टोपी
A patterned cotton cap worn across Nepal as part of the national dressDress
🇳🇵 Kathmandu, NepalTraditional Newar clothingनेवार समुदायमा भएको संस्कृति पहिरन
The customary handwoven dress and ceremonial garments of Nepal's Newar peopleDress
🇮🇳 IndiaIndian wedding invitationनिमन्त्रण पत्र/पत्रिका
Decorative ceremonial cards sent to announce marriages and invite guests across IndiaRite of passage
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Indian wedding invitation: Onef9day, CC BY 3.0, source
- Paithani: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Jamdani: Salim_Khandoker, CC0, source
- South Asian truck art: Alexandros.Papadopoulos, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kolhapuri chappal: Daderot, CC0, source
- Pandal: SHUBHAM KR SONI, CC0, source
- Sanjhi: Veer jindal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Phulkari: Sheebamadanloewinger, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Muslin: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Warli painting: Omrmankar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nakshi kantha: A junaid alam khan ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Chikankari: Joey Berzowska, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dhokra: Sushilsakhuja, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kurta: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Shalwar kameez: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gamosa: Priyankoo at en.wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Rangoli: SreeramKalyan, CC0, source
- Pashmina: Aaditya Kitroo, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sari: Suyash.dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bandhani: RubyGoes, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dhunachi: Amitbsws, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kolam: mckaysavage, CC BY 2.0, source
- Shamiana: Badri Seshadri, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bagh print: Mrqd9, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Choli: Janavi, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dhaka topi: Sophie Graubert, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Traditional Newar clothing: Uray1130, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kasaya: Unknown author, Public domain, source