Mandir – Hindu shrine
Main Ganesha murti at the Broome Street Temple, decorated for Ganesh Chathurti 2011
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Shrines in India are often built near ant nests, which attract snakes. The deities are adorned with garlands in an act of worship.
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The sacred and the spectacular: how Bengal’s Durga Puja pandals morph into temporary art galleries - Aishani Gupta from MAP Academy reports on one of the world's great artistic events, held on the streets of Kolkata, for the eyes of the gods.
Gateways to the soul in Indian art and craft - Kruti Dholakia calls her teacher Reena Bhatia to talk about work inspired by devotion to Lord Krishna.
Beyond the facades: Temple wood carving of Himachal Pradesh - Lalita Waldia celebrates temple carvers who work intuitively, in order to serve the deity.
Kalighat Temple: A terracotta revival - Tamal Bhattacharya reflects on his work restoring the terracotta tiles of an ancient Bengali temple.
Sahjeevan: A symbiotic association between makers and designers - Khushbu Mathur writes about her successful collaboration with block printer Shakil Ahmed.
Sisters of India and Indivaan: Surviving with honour - Helen Ting tells of a Nepalese orphan whose success in adversity has inspired a new organisation to support upliftment through craft.
Creative, collaborative communities: Forms of artist and artisan organisation in historic India - Rachna Shetty from the MAP Academy presents an overview of craft collectives through the history of India that have shaped and been shaped by its material, religious and social cultures
Zakiyaben and Adilbhai Khatri: Kindred explorers - In an extract from Judy Frater's forthcoming book, two bandhani artisans share their journey with Somaiya Kala Vidya to realise their designs in successful careers.
Hortus Malabaricus: How the garden of Malabar travelled the world - Rachna Shetty from MAP Academy presents a seventeenth-century Dutch botanical treatise about the Malabar coast that has been recently revived in India itself.
The world at our feet: Shoemakers of Dehradun - LOkesh Ghai honours the shoemakers of his neighbour and argues for the continuing value.
The Uuseum of the white desert: A showcase of Kutchi crafts - Aashka Jadeja reveals the contents of the House of Amoda at Rann Utsav - Tent City, Dhordo village.
Birender Kumar Yadav ✿ Presencing the keepers of the kiln - Our March Laurel goes to Birender Kumar Yadav for his terracotta installation in homage to brick kiln workers, one of the highlights of the Indian Ceramics Triennale. 
Blurred lines: Threshold floor drawings and their mediation between private and public - Alolika De from the MAP Academy presents the rich and constantly evolving variety of traditions involving threshold decoration in India.
The Kintsugi Collection: The resilient beauty of Jaipur weaving - Rahul Kapoor celebrates a collection of handwoven rugs designed by Vikram Kapoor and woven by local artisans on over 1,200 looms.
Heart of Parijat - Ranjith Sivaraman shares his poem inspired by Tanya Dutt's recounting of the romantic myth of the coral jasmine flower.
Dancing bodies, moving touch: Textiles, materiality and touch in Indian dance - Krishna P Unny from the MAP Academy finds in Briana Blasko's photographs a testament to the intimate relationship between textiles and dance.
Vakr ✿ A fluid touch - Devyani Gupta's furniture morphs into curved forms that tell ancient stories.
Looms of Ladakh: Keeping with knowledge of shesrig alive - Nalin Rai tells of an association in India's remote north that creates opportunities for local women by shifting pashmina production closer to the source.
The sacred garden: A photo essay of worship through flowers - Prerana Chandak shares images of the flowers that play an important role in her Hindu faith and practice.
Lotus blooms and divine blessings: A spiritual journey through fragrance and festivity - Japneet Keith recounts the floral scents associated with the deities invoked in Durga Puja.
The Song of the actinomycetes - Priyanka Jain sings about microbes in medieval Indian miniature paintings of a love that is triggered by the smell of rain.
Through the garden gate: Litrahb Perfumery and the world of synaesthesia - Chloé Wolifson learns about the olfactory curating of Bharti Lalwani, which resulted in a scent canopy for an exhibition of Indian miniatures.
Surrounded by scent: Perfumery in the courtly cultures of early-modern South Asia - Simran Agarwal finds an extraordinarily elaborate culture of fragrance in India's Persianate world.
A fragrant pilgrimage to the Norbulingka Institute - Japneeth Keith ventures to little Lhasa, the source of Tibetan incense craft. 
Dhoop-batti: The fragrance rises from the roots - LOkesh Ghai discovers the authentic incense of the Gaddi nomadic community, redolent of the land they traverse.
The rose perfumers of Kannauj - Dwan Kaoukji tracks the production of the most exquisite floral scent from the perfumeries of Kuwait to the traditional distillers of Uttar Pradesh
A manifesto for craft in space design - Join our Reinventing the Wheel series for a focus on the value of Indian craft, featuring a manifesto of the Indian Institute of Interior Designers
Lavina Baldota on curating Sutr Santati - We speak with Lavina Baldota about the epic curation of Sutr Santati, an exhibition of contemporary Indian textiles celebrating 75 years of independence.
Kalpataru ✿ Jharkhand’s Tree of Life by Sahil & Sarthak - Our August laurel goes to the epic Tree of Life made by Sahil & Sarthak for the Mall of Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
Who owns craft knowledge? - As part of our Reinventing the Wheel series, Annapurna Mamidipudi introduces a new publication that questions the formalisation of craft knowledge.
Weaving song, work and memory in Indian culture - MAP Academy reveals the intimate and authentic relationship between weaving and song in Indian culture. 
“I feel as if I’ve dropped into a secret cave”: The power of clay in recent Indian fiction - D Wood reviews two recent novels by Indian writers that evoke the allure of ceramics.
Remembering Jasleen Dhamija: India’s custodian of crafts (1933-2023) - Saiful Islam shares memories of Jasleen Dhamija, an always charming legend of Indian craft
The herb that must not be named - Divya N writes about a jewellery made with herbs that protects children from harm.
Time travelers: Gadgets that made heirlooms - The COVID pandemic prompted Priyanka Kochar to explore the curious objects made redundant by modernity.
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay on “the right kind of spoon” - Aarti Kalwa introduces the lecture by Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay which advocates for the idea of world craft.
Staining lips red for centuries: The heart-shaped betel leaf - The MAP Academy share the rich ornamental culture involving the consumption of paan, stuffed betel leaf, in India.
Why Runs The Abhisarika - Priyanka Jain presents a unique recitation of Sanskrit mythology and neuroscience. 
Follow the algorithm: New journeys through the world of textiles - As part of Reinventing the Wheel, India's MAP Academy will present a new platform that helps in discovering new artworks and textile objects based on artificial intelligence.
Pushkar women balance life and work on ornate indonis - Shefali Martins writes about the indoni, a richly decorated base still used today by Rajasthanis for balancing pots on their heads.
Transforming the landscape into colour: India’s natural dyes - MAP Academy detail the development of India's iconic natural dyes: madder, indigo and lac.
Spinning as meditation - YuddhavirSingh Jadeja explains how spinning became part of his morning routine.
Sherwani: The influence of British rule on elite Indian menswear - You are invited to hear Toolika Gupta present her new book about the influence of the British Raj on what seems a distinctively Persian costume.
Issey Miyake: Pleating craft and technology together - LOkesh Ghai offers a personal tribute to the Japanese designer who did so much to bring Asian creativity to fashion, including an appreciation of Indian handmade textiles.
Mandir मंदिर ✿ Stories from India - Shrines adorn the Indian landscape. Visit and enjoy the epic stories of craft from India.
Bombay, batik & biotechnics: Gender and nationhood in modernist textiles - As part of our Reinventing the Wheel series, Antonia Behan, Vishal Khandelwal and Michael Mamp reflect on the careers of Ethel Mairet, Nelly Sethna and Ethel Wallace respectively.
Know your weaver: The revival of Udupi sarees - Nalin Rai outlines the campaign that helped rescue the precious craft of weaving Udupi sarees in Karnataka.
Fold craft: Uncovering the Nivi sari - In our Reinventing the Wheel series, Kaamya Sharma reflects on the emergence of the Nivi sari as a national dress and how it demonstrates the craft of using as well as making.
Yarn ni Yatra: Crafts as a board game - Mridushi Singhal explains the rules of the beautiful board game she designed to understand the craft cultures of Kutch.
Bappaditya Biswas ✿ A chintz conversation - Our February Laurel goes to Bappaditya Biswas for his glorious chintz reflecting a conversation between birds and flowers.
The year of the lotus - Toolika Gupta introduces the lotus motif as a guide to Garland's journey in its seventh year.
Pachanbhai ✿ A finely woven story of change - Our December laurel is awarded to the Kutchi weaver, Pachanbhai, for a beautiful scarf featuring a finely woven story of climate change.
Kangri: The dilemma of the Kashmiri portable heater - Irfan Ahmed and Saima Andleeb document the distinctive Kashmiri personal heater, which despite its heritage is destined to be a dying craft.
To steal a golden earring: In search of the chola in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh - LOkesh Ghai continues his journey through the Himalayas in quest of the legendary choga over-garment.
Ulaṭbānsi / Zigzagging: Filming the spirit of weaving - Gauri Nori explains the thinking behind the film Ulaṭbānsi / Zigzagging, in which Kutchi weavers sing and tell of the spiritual value of the handloom.
Polishing: An overlooked craft - Jahan Rezakhanlou reveals the wonders of polishing in Japan, Uzbekistan and India.
Mata ni Pachedi: Sacred textiles come to the rescue - Kiran Chitara shares his ancient textile craft that rescues culture and fortune from destruction.
A Kolam for Washington DC - Shanthi Chandrasekar tracks the memories of Kolam adornment rituals that now inspire a homage to the US Vice-President.
Project Dor ✿ Care to wear - Aparna Negi promotes a textile project involving migrant women from Bihar and Jharkhand.
Anuradha Chauhan: A secret of the Himalayas - Join us in the foothills of the Himalayas to learn its stories and support its crafts.