The Rare Arts and crafts of Nirona Kutch Gujarat

by Nisha Parmar SEO Executive

nirona in kutch

Tourism in Gujarat is uniquely dependent on art and craft, the travelers flocking the state are mesmerized by the colors of Gujarat. One of the most interesting spots is the village of Nirona in Kutch.

Nirona and Zura near Nakhatrana are known for interesting crafts like melodic bells, lacquered woodwork and rogan painting. Rogan is the art of decorating fabrics with colours that use a castor oil base, now only practiced by one family in Nirona. The artisan painstakingly makes the outline on half the cloth and then folds the piece to repeat the pattern in the other half. After that, the outlines are filled with colour. The entire process is freehand work.

Muslim Lohar families involve all their members in the processes of making the bells, with the head craftsman of the family being finally responsible for shaping the bell and setting the sound. The sound of the bell depends on the shape and size of the body, the wooden strip attached to the bell and the bottom rim. The woodworkers of Nirona and Nakhatrana also undertake wood and lac turnery. After turning the wood on a rudimentary lathe made from two iron rods with chisels, the surface is smoothened on this lathe using an oil-soaked cloth before applying the mix of natural colours and lac till it gets a unique pattern of marbled colours.

In rogan art, the artisan uses an iron rod as his brush to decorate the fabric with a gooey castor-oil based paint.

Gujarat tour packages organized by Swan Tours includes Nirona Village in Kutch as a part of the itinerary

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