Varanasi Soft Stone Jali work is intricately carved and perfectly chiselled on Soft Stone and are further decorated with inlay work. Stone carvings may also be embedded with inexpensive shells or semi-precious stones and are admired in all over the world. Varanasi, Chandauli, Mirzapur, and Sonebhadra of Uttar Pradesh are famous for its exclusive Soft Stone Jali Work since generations.
Varanasi Soft Stone Jali Craftsmen have shown their creative excellence through intricate architectural masterpieces. Its process requires supreme mastery of masonry and design making. Stone carving on sandstone carry the rich cultural heritage of royal fascination.
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Using the simplest of tools coupled with expertise, patience and perseverance, these artisans create works of splendour, which have few parallels anywhere in the world. In Varanasi, Softstone Jali craft work can be seen on forts, zamindari homes, places of worship and ancient monuments all of which are a testimony to its antiquity.
Statues of religious significance are also made using this technique. To further enhance the beauty of these sculptures they would be embedded with semi-precious stones and shell- work. Soft stone Jali work craft of Varanasi include marble boxes, wall plates, table tops, coasters, and ashtrays, paperweights, and candleholders, of different sizes, are considered as the intricate craftsmanship of the artisans of Varanasi
Soft Stones/Soap Stone are excavated from open mines. Large sized boulders are carried to the workshops where they are given desired shapes and sizes by skilled and seasoned craftsmen. The articles thus crafted, are buff shed for smoothness. Some are also lacquered to impart sheen and glow.
It is interesting to note, there is no homogeneity of colour, tint and texture in soft stone. Two pieces taken out, even from the same block of soft stone, are never alike. Thus, it is virtually impossible to get two carved pieces of soft stone of identical colour or design.
GI Tag Registration Date : 28 March 2018
GI Tag Number : 556
Certificate Number : 315
Geographical Area : Uttar Pradesh
Special Cover Release Date : 13 October 2021
Cancellation : Varanasi 221 001
Type : GI Tag Cover
Cover Identification Number : UP/96/2021
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Enlarged View of Cancellation
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