Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing

Jaipur has been my mom's hometown, so as kids it used to be often that we'd visit to spend time with grandparents. At the time, as a kid, it  wasn't really a city of my dreams - in fact i always found it dirty and hot and cribbed about all the things that were wrong with it.  I'd rather go visit a city that had the Essel World (India's Disney Land in Mumbai) or Appu ghar in Delhi, but never to the oh! so boring palaces and museums of Jaipur. The funny part, that same visit now feels like a surreal dream sitting here in the US even though i so badly want to just wander and explore the beautiful city all over again with this new found passion! Mom's family moved out of the city almost a decade ago, about time when i had just started my career as an architect and sigh! how i regret not having taken advantage of the several past visits back then! 

Well, one of the UNESCO's award winning museums for 'Cultural Preservation', amongst so many others that i missed visiting in Jaipur is the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing. This place is very close to my heart because of the history associated with it, especially since the inception of The Green Elephant. Anokhi is an initiative of founder director Rachel Bracken-Singh and husband Pritam Singh. For the right use of this palace after renovation (by Pritam's father John Singh) back in 1989, several concepts were reviewed and a plan for developing it as a museum for block printing was put together. This museum is now dedicated for the preservation, collection and interpretation of the endangered craft of block printing. It definitely seems to have contributed a great deal in raising the appreciation of this fragile but living art form in the eyes of the world since it's inception. The Anokhi Museum hosts a permanent exhibit, a temporary gallery along with several educational programs and workshops that enable visitors to experience the craft of block printing hands on.

Anokhi has now grown to become a brand of its own that offers a diverse and delectable variety of products ranging from apparel like skirts, pants, tops, shirts, kurtis, coats to home textiles and other accessories. "Anoki's designs blend contemporary sensibilities with traditions of excellence." - truly. Well here's from where i'll let Anokhi's seriously beautiful products  along with some phenomenal product photography do the talking by themselves. Hope you'll love them as much as i do!

My favoritest is this beautiful, free flowing red dress! Which is yours?

Photo Credits: Anokhi Website