The
builders of Jaipur took special care to provide ample space and facilities for
the production and marketing of hadicarfts which made the place famous throughout
India and abroad. An entire street and several city sectors were earmarked for
artisans and traders. The mainmarkets are along Jauhari Bazar, Bapu Bazar, Nehru
Bazar, Chaura Rasta, Tripolia Bazar and M.I. Raod.
Shops specialising in precious and semi precious stones, ornaments and jewellery
are to be found on and along Jauhari Bazar. Jaipur enjoys a high reputation
for the manufacture of jewellery. It is one of the most active jewel markets
of the world and is famous for precious and semi-precious stones and also
for the cutting, polishing and setting of these stone, particularly that of
diamonds, topaz and emeralds.
Jaipur brass work is of immaculate quality. The Jaipur brass worker is successful
in infusing life like charm into the dull metal. Two kinds of work is done
in Jaipur on brass viz. Lacquered brass carved brass. Jaipur enamel or Minakari,
mostly done on gold and silver has always been a class of its own. The Jaipur
artist is renowned not nonly for the purity of the colours, but also for its
evenness. Jaipur is also famous for its textiles. Sanganeri and Bagru block
prints are the fashion designer's craze these days. The Bandhej (tie and dye)print
is very typical of the region.
Near the Hawa Mahal are large number of shops dealing in antiques and pseudo-antiques.
Some shops opposite Hawa Mahal stock the famous Jaipuri quilts, weighing from
a few hundred grams to a kilogram.
The stone and marble carving industry is also famous art of Jaipur. The stone
used is either procured from within Jaipur or from the marble mines of makrana,
the famous quarry that provided all the marble stone for one of the wonders
of the world at Agra, the Taj Mahal. The carvings, portraits and busts created
in Jaipur are held in high esteem everywhere.