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 Brahmin crematorium in Jaisalmer, India. Below: Camels on the dunes outside Jaisalmer.
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Rajasthan, India The sun set over the sand dunes, the boombox blasted a love song; the dozen sari-clad women danced over the dunes, the Bollywood Director screamed at the camels refusing to line up for their silhouette shot, and the local camel-drivers hooted their amusement. Outside Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. 150 miles from the Pakistani border. January 2000. Jaisalamer is the one of the westernmost settlements in India, bounded by barbed wire fences and encampments of the border patrol. The Fort, built in 1156 of luminous sandstone, is straight out of Aladdin. This fortified city has been an important desert outpost since the days of the Silk Road, when a savvy ruler built Jain temples inside the city walls to offer nomadic traders a safe place to worship, and so encourage trade. It is still a center for trade, drawing tribal peoples for its annual Cattle Fair. Rajasthan is a fascinating region, known for villages of mud huts and amazing textiles, camel caravans and maharajahs? palaces. From the Brahmin crematoriums of golden sandstone in Jaisalmer to the sky blue houses of Jodhpur, from the fairytale palaces and crystalline lakes of Udaipur to the shadows of the eighteenth century observatory in the pink city of Jaipur, Rajasthan is a romantic whirl of sand and color, of saffron and mirrors, of long desert vistas and rugged, rocky hillsides. Rajasthan is a perfect introduction to India, and has most definitely sparked our imagination and whet our appetite for more! Mingei has wonderful things from Rajasthan, and more coming later this spring. Come see: textiles from the nomadic peoples of western Rajasthan, pillow covers made from old sari borders and other old textile pieces, a bench made from an old pony cart, a side table made from the driver?s seat of a gypsy camel cart, whimsical old wooden toys, detailed miniature paintings in colors made from ground semi-precious stones?¨ |
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