Chanderi is a small town in Madhya Pradesh, which is celebrated for its prominence in Indian history and age-old weaving tradition of Chanderi fabrics. It’s one of the biggest weaving industry which was patronised by the royal family of Gwalior who setup up a training centre to train and empower locals. With its beautiful colours and zari work, Chanderi weaves never fail to impress the ethnic fabric lovers. Every day a new story is weaved in the quaint town of Chanderi where every fourth house in the street is lined up with a loom. Most of the artisan’s work from their home whereas some work is carried out at the Chanderi Handloom Park, which was established in 2017 by the Ministry of Textile, to facilitate weavers with 240 looms. The weavers’ cluster of Chanderi is the biggest in the country with over 11000 weavers and around 5000 pit looms.

Maheshwar an ancient town of pilgrimage with a rich heritage of art and culture finds mention in epics like the Mahabharata and Matasya Puran by the name Mahishmati. It is said that King Mahishman, who belonged to the Hyhay Dynasty, founded it. Lying on the North bank of the holy river Narmada, Maheshwar itself had been a capital city during the rule of the Holkars in the early part of the 19th century and remained so till Indore became the new capital in 1818. Rani Ahilyabai the Holkar queen who ruled in the latter part of the 18th century declared Maheshwar as her capital and developed it. Temples were constructed and the ghats and other structures also came up during her rule. She invited weavers from the rich princely states of Hyderabad, Mandav and others to come and settle in Maheshwar so that it could benefit from their rich craft. Purchasing their goods and gifting to visiting dignitaries to Maheshwar she gave them the opportunity to practice their skills and hone their craft, at the same time ensuring the spread of the reputation of Maheshwar weaves. She encouraged these weavers to try and weave natural fibres that would carry designs from the Maheshwar fort that were inscribed on its walls. That was perhaps the beginning of a tradition that has survived till today.

Bagh is a unique style of block printing on handloom fabrics. The name ‘Bagh’ is because it’s origin in the current form is from a village by that name in Madhya Pradesh, India. An art brought from another region by migrant settlers in the 1960s, who travelled from Manawar and settled in Bagh village on the banks of the Bagh river, has taken block printed fabrics to a new level altogether. The Narmada river, about 30 kilometres from Bagh, which is a perennial source for water, is important for this art work, particularly during the dry season when the Bagh river goes dry.

Initially, print subjects were mainly geometrical prints and floral compositions. Later stage weavesr experimented with designs which also included traditional motifs that had been inspired by the 1500 year old cave paintings of nearby regions.

The heritage city of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, that is popularly known for its forts, museums and monuments, is also famous for its unique Batto Bai Dolls. This distinguished craft is named after Batto Bai, an enterprising craftswoman from Gwalior. Her fourth generation family members continue to carry forward the legacy of crafting these unique dolls to perfection.

Handcrafted by using rags, paper, clay, cotton, wires, silver paint, bamboos and bright traditional fabrics, Batto Bai Dolls have an exotic tribal feel to them. Also, these are made of organic colours that are permanent in nature. The expressions and costumes of these traditional dolls are all very traditional, inspired from real-life instances. These dolls are always made and sold in pairs. Batto Bai, the lady who gave birth to the idea of hand-made dolls in Gwalior, is an internationally acclaimed artist who has won many state as well as central government awards for her contribution to India's pristine handicrafts heritage.