Namaste Traveler!
Embark on a soulful journey with Ge’Gard Indian Trails — where every tour is personal, immersive, and unforgettable.
Curating Soulful Journeys...
Embark on a soulful journey with Ge’Gard Indian Trails — where every tour is personal, immersive, and unforgettable.
By Ge’Gard Indian Trails
I woke up early to the faint chill of Jaipur’s morning breeze.
A hot cup of chai in hand, I stepped into an auto-rickshaw heading toward Amer Road — not to see forts or palaces, but something far more delicate: A blue pottery workshop. The streets were just waking up — shutter doors rolled open, tea stalls hissed with boiling kettles, and the city was beginning to hum. I arrived just after 8:30 AM at a small, unassuming studio tucked behind a faded signboard:“Khawasa Blue Pottery Karkhana – Since 1885.”I stepped through the doorway — and entered another world.
The studio smelled faintly of mud, smoke, and something sweet — maybe history itself. An elderly artisan, Salim Bhai, was stirring a thick blue paste in a wide terracotta bowl. “This isn’t clay,” he told me. “It’s quartz, glass, Fuller's earth, and a little gum — there’s no clay in blue pottery. "He dipped a soft brush into the color and began painting delicate vines on a pale ceramic plate. His hands moved like poetry. I Tried My Own Hand. He looked at me and smiled: “Now you try. "He handed me a small tile and a fine brush. My fingers trembled as I drew my first line — uneven, crooked, and very real. He didn’t laugh. He nodded. "Good. Every piece has its own personality. Just like people.”
Later, over warm chai, the artisans shared stories of their fathers and grandfathers — how this art came from Persia, how it nearly disappeared, and how they kept it alive. "This isn’t just craft,” one of them said. “It’s family. It’s memory.” The origins of blue pottery can be traced back to Persia (modern-day Iran), where it was developed as an Islamic art form in the 9th century. Influenced by Chinese porcelain, Persian artisans began using cobalt blue glaze on white ceramic tiles and vases, often decorating mosques and palaces. This art traveled west to Turkey, Uzbekistan, and eastward through the Silk Route, arriving in India via the Mughals in the 14th–16th centuries. In the 18th century, Rambir Singh II, the ruler of Jaipur, invited artisans from Delhi and Persia to teach local craftsmen. However, it was in the late 19th century, during the reign of Sawai Ram Singh II, that blue pottery truly found a home in Jaipur. Jaipur artists innovated — they began making vases, bowls, plates, and tiles using a unique dough made from quartz powder, glass, Multani mitti, borax, and gum — unlike traditional clay pottery. This gave it a glassy, smooth finish with stunning blue, turquoise, and yellow designs.
I bought a small hand-painted bowl. Slightly wobbly. Slightly perfect.Like every journey — not flawless, but unforgettable.A Piece of My Heart Stayed Behind.As I rode back into Jaipur city, the traffic returned, the noise returned — but part of me remained in that quiet studio. Among the blue pigments, brush strokes, and the soft voice of Salim Bhai.
Ge’Gard Indian Trails invites you inside the world of Jaipur’s blue pottery — not as a tourist, but as a participant.
In a world of mass production, Blue Pottery stands as a symbol of slowness, sustainability, and soul. Buying a piece means supporting the hands that preserve culture — not just an object, but a legacy.Artisans in Jaipur’s Sanganer and Amer regions continue this fragile artform, often from small family-run studios. Many are now training the next generation, ensuring this knowledge doesn’t fade like old glaze.
At Ge’Gard Indian Trails, we don’t just show you Blue Pottery — we take you inside the kilns, the studios, and the homes of the artists. Touch the raw materials. Try your hand at painting. Listen to the stories from the people who shape them.
