Under the "Linking Textile with Tourism" initiative, major tourist destinations are being linked with handicraft clusters, and infrastructure supports combined with soft interventions are being proposed.
In this regard, 8 Craft Villages have already been established in Raghurajpur (Odisha), Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Vadaj (Gujarat), Naini (Uttar Pradesh), Anegundi (Karnataka), Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu), Taj Ganj (Uttar Pradesh), and Amer (Rajasthan) for overall development of the villages wherein craft promotion and tourism are being undertaken.
Craft Village will promote handicrafts as a viable and remunerative livelihood option for artisans in the clusters, thereby safeguarding the country's rich artisanal heritage. Approximately 1000 artisans will benefit directly from this programme across the country. This programme has also increased tourist traffic across these Craft Villages.
More About Craft Villages:
Crafts are an important part of Indian culture. These crafts thrive in the country's outlying regions. Most crafts in India are practiced as a legacy of the past and the family. Craftspeople have inherited them from their forefathers, and this tradition has been carried on for centuries.
The concept of a crafts village emerged to serve the purpose of gathering most of the craft specimens and craftsmen under one roof. At a craft village, you can get up close and personal with the artisans as they create their wares right in front of your eyes.
The infrastructure and atmosphere of a crafts village are also designed in the style of a village to give visitors a sense of rural life in India. Crafts village also functions as a market, as you can purchase artefacts at lower prices than in the general market. As a result, these craft huts serve multiple functions from a single platform.
