RAS question
Bandhani (tie-dye) craft of Rajasthan is mainly practiced in:
Correct answer: (B) Jodhpur, Jaipur, and Bikaner.
Bandhani, also called Bandhej, is mainly practised in Rajasthan at Jodhpur, Jaipur and Bikaner, with Jodhpur treated as the primary centre.
Explanation
Bandhani or Bandhej is a tie-and-dye textile craft: the cloth is tied tightly at several points and then dyed, creating patterned fabric after the knots resist the colour. Rajasthan Tourism places Bandhej within the state’s wider tradition of dyed and block-printed fabrics and specifically identifies the tie-and-dye Bandhej fabrics of Jodhpur, Jaipur and Bikaner. This makes option B the exact match. Jodhpur carries special weight as the primary centre, so the safest exam framing is not a single-city answer but the cluster of Jodhpur, Jaipur and Bikaner.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Alwar and Bharatpur are not main Bandhani centres in Rajasthan Tourism’s textile listing, which names Jodhpur, Jaipur and Bikaner for Bandhej.
- (C) Udaipur may have some Bandhani, but it is not the main centre; Rajasthan Tourism instead names Jodhpur, Jaipur and Bikaner for Bandhej.
- (D) Kota and Bundi do not fit because Kota is associated with Kota Doria, while Bandhani is tied to Jodhpur, Jaipur and Bikaner.
Concept
This tests the mapping of Rajasthan’s textile crafts to their main regional centres. It recurs in RAS because art-and-culture questions often ask candidates to distinguish similar handicraft traditions by place, technique and local specialisation.