Palm-leaf etching
Scrolls incised into dried talipot leaves with an iron stylus, then inked so the line settles into the cut. Astonishingly fine, and considerably older than the cloth version. Look for it in the same Raghurajpur workshops.
The crafts of Puri, and where they are made
Five traditions are still practised within an hour of the hotel — and each of them is made by people you can actually meet, in buildings you can walk into.
Why Puri
A temple town with a workshop attached
For centuries the Jagannath Temple needed things made: painted cloth for rituals, carved stone, wooden chariots, silver offerings. Those supply chains never closed. The crafts that grew up to serve the temple are now the reason collectors come to this coast.
Everything below is reachable as a half-day trip. The travel desk will arrange a car with a driver who knows the lanes.
A chitrakar at work
Craft 01 · Raghurajpur
Pattachitra
Painted cloth scrolls in a style that has barely changed in three hundred years — natural pigments, fine black linework, and subjects drawn almost entirely from the Jagannath legends.
- Made on treated cotton cloth, stiffened and burnished with a stone.
- Colours traditionally from mineral and plant sources; the outlines are painted last, not first.
- Raghurajpur, about half an hour from the hotel, is the village to visit — more about it here.
Crafts 02–05
Four more traditions
Stone carving
The carving yards around Puri still supply temple work — the same tradition that produced the Konark wheels and the Jagannath temple's own ornament. Finished pieces and work in progress are both visible.
Appliqué (Chandua)
Layered coloured fabric stitched into canopies and umbrellas, originally for temple processions. Pipili, on the Bhubaneswar road, is the centre for it.
Silver filigree
Tarakasi — silver drawn into wire so fine it behaves like thread, then worked into jewellery and ritual objects. Delicate, time-consuming, and a Puri speciality.
Planning
A workable craft morning
Distances from the hotel are approximate and depend on the route your driver takes.
| Craft | Where | From the hotel | Time needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pattachitra | Raghurajpur | Approx. 30 min | 1.5–2 hrs |
| Palm-leaf etching | Raghurajpur | Approx. 30 min | Include above |
| Appliqué | Pipili | On the Bhubaneswar road | 1 hr |
| Stone carving | Around Puri and Konark | Varies | 1 hr |
| Silver filigree | Puri town | Approx. 15 min | 45 min |
Pair it with Konark. Raghurajpur sits more or less on the way south, so a route of hotel → Raghurajpur → Konark → Chandrabhaga makes a natural full day rather than three separate trips.
Visiting workshops without being a nuisance
These are working studios, not showrooms. A little care goes a long way, and it usually means you get shown more rather than less.
- Ask before photographing
- Buy from the maker
- Do not haggle hard
- Go in the morning
- Cash is easier
- Ask first. Most artists are delighted to be photographed but would rather be asked than surprised.
- Buy from the person who made it. The difference between a workshop price and a hotel-lobby price mostly goes somewhere other than the artist.
- Do not negotiate aggressively. A Pattachitra can take weeks. Treat the price as a wage.
- Go early. Studios are cooler and people are less busy before midday.
- Take cash. Card facilities in village workshops are rare.
If you are short on time, visit Raghurajpur alone. It compresses three of the five crafts into one walkable village, and it is the one guests consistently say they wished they had allowed longer for.
Read this before you shop
The short version
Four crafts, one day route
Raghurajpur for Pattachitra, Pipili for appliqué, then the stone carvers on the way back
Buy in the workshops, not the showrooms
prices tighten and you meet the hands that made it
Carry cash
many family workshops still do not take cards, and haggling is expected but gentle
Keep planning: