The brilliantly colorful ceramic and bone-china art of Khurja

Khurja located near Bulandshahar on NH-2 (Aligarh-Delhi route) is otherwise a dusty western Uttar Pradesh town at the heart of wild-wild-west of India’s North.

But for ages, a beautiful cottage industry thrives in this place, which is hones and spreaded from here worldwide.

This is the bone-china and ceramic works. Beautiful, creative bone-china and ceramic handicrafts with painstakingly hand-crafted, ornate decorations, frescos, designs on its surface now adorns all exclusive properties all over the world. Its hard to believe that the poor artisans living in this dusty poor semi-industrial town for years have preserved this art.

Its true that you’ll get its variations in Rajasthan (blue potteries); its also true that you may get samples of this stocked besides national highways in north india (near Gurgaon so to say), its also true that near Malviya Nagar Metro Station in South Delhi there are 3 – 4 shops that keep stocks of the same stuff (at least that’s what they claim).

But to get the authentic design, widest varieties, the most colorful ones with diverse varieties of design and arts, the place of origin (Khurja) has to be visited. In Delhi they keep only the items that are preferred by Delhiites. So also in Gurgaon. In Surajkund crafts fare, the stock is only that much that holds in a shop.

But in Khurja, there is no limit to stock. And there is no limitation on its varieties. And it’s a pleasure to savor the local art from the place from where it has originated.

Khurja is now easily approachable after Yamuna Expressway. From Delhi, you come near Jewar Toll Plaza and go out of the YE through the side-cut towards Bulandshahar (green sign board on top clearly indicates the direction). 35 Kms from this cut along the Jewar-Khurja-Bulandshahar road lies Khurja. Once you enter Khurja, take NH-2. Bang on NH-2 just opposite to the Polytechnic (and that’s an important landmark) lies this wonderful shop.

For Agra to Delhi side, you have some trouble in hand. You need to cross the Jewar toll gate, then swerve your car on the left hand side itself for the entry/exit gap to get down from the highway through the side-cut meant for vehicle entering from the Khurja/Bulandshahar/Aligarh underpass. This means you have to adopt a wrong-side here. This is because on YE they have blocked all U-turn gaps from Jewar toll plaza onwards till Greater NOIDA. So once you cross Jewar and miss this wrong-side cut, you won’t get a single u-turn cut till Greater NOIDA for taking the Bulandshahar cut on the right hand side. I faced it first-hand.

USPs of this particular shop in Khurja are: 1.0> Fantastic stock and warehouse; 2.0> Bewildering varieties that you’ll never get, never see anywhere else; 3.0> Cordial behaviors of the Agarwals (owners). They are always ready to help you. In my last visit I was in fact fell short of cash by a few hundred bucks but liked an item a lot. He readily packed the item in my car and requested me to pay afterwards. I remitted the amount a week after my  return to Mathura. Of course trust and behavior matters. His boys do nice packing and nothing breaks. I packed them in dicky of my car and travelled all the way back to Mathura (remember this was pre-Yamuna Expressway day and I had to take the Aligarh Bypass-Hathras-Iglas-Raya-Mathura route). Still due to the nice packing nothing broke.  From this shop, supply goes to all major offices in western UP belt. I have seen their materials in display in all major petrol pumps and many other good hotels. The price is reasonable and the quality excellent. The utensils are brilliantly colorful and wide in variety.

Its advisable to come here preferable in own vehicle, bring adequate money (I suggest around INR 5000/-) as the nearest ATM is located in the main city market around 1 Km away from the shop and you have to again drive down there. And the market on the highway is damn crowded, dusty and may drive you mad. They don’t have debit/credit card facility at least when I visited last. And normally shops closes in evening; always try to visit latest by 6-6:30 pm. Then you can see with some time in hand. Packing also takes some time. Keep the car boot empty for space to keep the items. Also bring your food packed. I didn’t find enough good restaurants in Khurja as such. We had our dinner on way back at Hotel Royal Regency at Aligarh. However now this problem won’t be there as Jewar Toll Gate of YE is also close-by; so on way back you can have snacks at the restaurant on YE near the toll plaza.

Khurja art, like tha glass-work of Firozabad needs careful nurturing and patronization. UP Ceramics and Handicrafts are the flagship store that keeps the flag of this art high-flying on NH-2. Its strongly recommended to pay a visit at these unknown destinations and savor the hand-crafted wonders first-hand.