Fashion Design Students Draw Inspiration from the Ajanta Ellora Caves for their Craft Project

The objective of the Crafts Project was to foster a sense of pride in our heritage, acknowledging its rich history and its enduring presence through crafts, textiles, clothing, and accessories. Fashion Design students from IIAD embarked on a journey to Aurangabad, where they delved into the mesmerizing Ajanta and Ellora caves.

The caves offered a multitude of sensory encounters encompassing aromas, colors, tactile sensations, textures, sounds and the visual narratives evidencing an epitome of hand skills. By carefully studying the colors, adornments, textile remnants, frescoes, and iconography, they absorbed valuable insights that expanded their knowledge base understanding that we are the carrier of stories, events and geography through clothing and material.

Conversations with local guides and enlightening lectures by the esteemed researcher, Dr. Jagtap P.D., Director, School of Social Sciences, further enhanced their experience. Subsequently, the students translated their observations from the frescos, into abstractions to create hand drawn motifs and stripes, which found expression in their final range development for a contemporary Indian market.