Craft Village Initiative:

• The craft village is an important initiative introduced by the government to preserve the arts and crafts of our country.
• The government has been linking major tourist destinations with the handicraft clusters and infrastructure supports, as a part of “Linking Textile with Tourism” initiative. With respect to this, 8 craft villages have already been set up for overall development of villages. In these villages craft promotion and tourism are being taken forward.
• Craft villages have been set up in-
• Raghurajpur (Odisha)
• Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh)
• Vadaj (Gujarat)
• Naini (Uttar Pradesh)
• Anegundi (Karnataka)

• Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu)
• Taj Ganj (Uttar Pradesh), and
• Amer (Rajasthan)
• The concept of a crafts village was drafted to gather most of the craft specimens and craftsmen at one place. In these villages, one can get up close and personal with the artisans because they create their wares in front of visitor’s eyes.
• Crafts are the significant part of Indian culture. These crafts flourish in the outlying regions of country.

Most of the crafts are practiced as a legacy of the family and past. Craftspeople have inherited crafts from their forefathers. This tradition is being followed for centuries.