U.K. coronation kept zardozi artisans near the Taj on their toes as memorabilia mania reached a peak Premium

Made with the intricate zardozi embroidery technique that uses thin metal threads, the car hangers needed to reach the U.K. within a month, as memorabilia.

As the United Kingdom (U.K.) was getting ready for its new king, a quiet neighbourhood near the Taj Mahal in Agra was busy burning the midnight oil. They were quickly churning out two lakh car hangers designed like the crown that was to be worn by King Charles III at his coronation.

Made with the intricate zardozi embroidery technique that uses thin metal threads on silk, satin, or velvet, the car hangers needed to reach the U.K. within a month, as memorabilia to mark the event there.

Returns from the labour-intensive cottage industry — that has been around since the 12th century — had been diminishing. With the artisans’ livelihood under threat, the Agra Smart City Mission undertook an exercise from 2019 to reorient products to suit the export market, inbound and domestic tourist retail, and niche corporate gifting needs. They set up four micro skill development centres across the city for this.

Besides zardozi, marble inlay and carpet making were the other crafts identified. Week-long, full-day training sessions have been carried out for about 300 artisans from self-help groups (SHGs).

According to Alok Saxena, project manager of the micro skill development initiative, a market survey conducted before beginning the programme showed that tourists, both foreign and domestic, preferred to buy pocket-friendly souvenirs compact enough to carry back home. “We decided to reskill these artisans to give them design ideas on what to make,” he said.

Marble inlay work for example, focused on embellishments instead of larger designs. Similarly, in the carpet industry, the design for the famous Agra dari woven in a colour-blocking technique, was redesigned to make wall hangings with intricate embroidery. Everything was reoriented to be done by hand to bring down pollution around the Taj Mahal.

“We trained them in retaining the essence of the craft while working on the pattern,” said designer Swati Gupta, a trainer for marble inlay work.