00:00This artist is mixing together a special glue
00:03using auraldite and zinc powder.
00:06It's one of the ways artists in India
00:08have updated the art of parchinkari,
00:12or marble inlay, since it was used 400 years ago
00:16to decorate the Taj Mahal.
00:19Artisans work with such small pieces,
00:21they say the strain can damage their eyesight,
00:24and the wear and tear on the skin
00:26causes them to lose their fingerprints.
00:29It's a very simple job.
00:33But now this work, which lines the walls
00:35of one of the world's most famous buildings,
00:38is in danger of disappearing.
00:41Today, artists make most of their money
00:43selling pieces to tourists visiting the Taj Mahal.
00:48But the COVID-19 pandemic weakened tourism
00:51and led to a steep decline in marble inlay artists.
00:55The job is also not as lucrative as it once was,
00:59forcing generations of younger artists
01:01to choose different career paths than their ancestors.
01:06We went to Agra in Uttar Pradesh, India
01:09to find out how parchinkari is still standing.
01:19Arif Ahmed is a direct descendant of artisans
01:22who decorated the Taj Mahal.
01:25His family is one of only a few
01:27left carrying on the marble inlay tradition in India.
01:38And that number could be even higher.
01:40According to some estimates,
01:42the number of marble inlay artisans in Agra
01:45has declined by up to 70% over the last two decades.
01:50For Arif, this work is a source of pride,
01:54and its disappearance would be devastating.
01:57He started learning the art of parchinkari from his father
02:00when he was just about 10 years old.
02:10His father, Hafiz Ahmed Khan,
02:12was granted the esteemed title of Shilp Guru
02:15by the Indian government
02:17and has won national awards for his marble work.
02:24Today, Arif is using many of the same tools,
02:26methods, and materials that his ancestors did,
02:31starting with high-quality marble sourced from Makrana,
02:34a small city near Jaipur, Rajasthan.
02:37It's durable, water-resistant, and has few impurities.
02:41It's also high in calcium,
02:43which gives it its pure white color.
02:48Varun Bansai has been working with Arif for about 15 years.
02:52He learned the marble craft from his father and grandfather.
02:56This same kind of marble was used
02:59to build the walls of the Taj Mahal.
03:03Varun and his team quarry raw slabs of marble
03:06and cut them using circular saws
03:08to separate the clean, usable chunks.
03:13Water helps cool the blade and reduce dust while they work.
03:21They then mold and carve the marble
03:23into tabletops of various shapes
03:25and sizes for the artisans.
03:29Finally, they deliver the finished marble
03:31to showrooms and to artisans like Arif.
03:37Today, Arif's team is designing an elephant sculpture
03:40made from Makrana marble,
03:42a popular souvenir among tourists visiting the Taj Mahal.
03:47Designers first cover the marble
03:49in brightly colored water-based acrylic paint
03:52so the patterns they draw stand out better
03:54against the white marble.
03:57They draw freehand designs
03:59directly onto the painted marble with a pencil.
04:03The designs can be quite complex,
04:05like this one with thousands of flower petals,
04:08leaves, and thin vines.
04:11The patterns are often inspired by the inlay
04:14on the Taj Mahal, which looms over the city of Agra.
04:19The Taj Mahal was built between 1631 and 1648
04:24under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.
04:26The marble was carried in using elephants from Jaipur.
04:31To decorate the walls,
04:32trained inlay workers were brought in from Persia.
04:36A debunked legend held that the Shah forced the artisans
04:40to have their hands cut off after they were finished
04:42so they couldn't replicate the beauty
04:44of the Taj Mahal anywhere else.
04:47Even though no one really lost their hands,
04:50Arif says Shah Jahan made sure the secrets of the art
04:53were protected in other ways.
05:04Many of the Persian artisans used their payment
05:06to put down roots in Agra,
05:09and thanks to their descendants,
05:10the city is still today a major producer of parchin kari.
05:17A parchin kari artist will eventually fill
05:19each of these outlined spaces
05:21with a small piece of precious or semi-precious stone
05:24chosen based on its color and aesthetics.
05:30While the marble comes from India,
05:32the stones are sourced from all over the world,
05:35including from Japan, Germany, and Iran.
05:51Artisans buy these stones from local shops
05:53where they're widely available.
05:55The more stones used in the design,
05:57the more expensive the final piece will be.
06:08Arif estimates a table like this
06:09would cost about 40,000 rupees, or $480.
06:14It also has lights installed beneath it
06:16to illuminate the stone.
06:21The size of the piece will also affect the price
06:23and increase the amount of time it takes to finish.
06:52The smaller, more detailed work,
06:54Arif describes as intoxicating work
06:57because it requires more time
06:59and intense concentration to get right.
07:11It takes half a day just to make one of these flowers.
07:22Arif says this work could damage his eyes from the strain
07:25if he does it for too many years.
07:27But choosing which stone goes where
07:29is one of his favorite stages of the creative process.
07:34When the designer is satisfied with their rough design,
07:37the artist traces it onto a sheet
07:39of translucent butter paper.
07:41They mark each tiny petal and leaf on the paper,
07:44like a massive and complex color by number,
07:47noting which stone is the most important.
07:51And which stone will be placed where.
08:00Then they retrace these shapes
08:02directly onto the flat, precious stones,
08:05with red or blue carbon paper placed in between.
08:09Cutting out these shapes requires a rotating wheel
08:12with very sharp, diamond-edged blades.
08:16Each blade lasts for only about three days.
08:19Depending on the hardness of the stone,
08:21they could wear out even faster.
08:34Updated technology like this
08:36has sped up the inlay process quite a bit
08:38since the days of the Taj Mahal.
08:46But some artisans, like Shafiq Uddin,
08:48still choose to use the tools of their ancestors,
08:52like this hand-operated pulley,
08:54even though he owns a motorized blade as well.
09:06Work like this, however,
09:07comes with a lot of physical risks.
09:11The cutters use their bare hands
09:13and must get dangerously close to the blade
09:15to make sure they get an accurate shape.
09:19It can also cause a lot of wear and tear on their skin,
09:22even eroding their fingerprints permanently.
09:31They are always breathing in marble dust.
09:33And while shaping the stones,
09:35they often work with water,
09:37which can numb their fingers in the cold months
09:39when temperatures in the area
09:40can drop to around 40 degrees.
09:43The temperature can go up to 4 to 8 degrees Celsius.
09:58Once the stone is cut,
10:00another worker will fine-tune the shape
10:02and polish it for a smoother edge using an emery wheel.
10:07Each cut stone is then lightly glued into the marble.
10:11The cutters then scrape an outline around the border
10:14to make sure they all fit perfectly.
10:16The elephant is heated by the fire,
10:18so the temporary glue will soften
10:20and the stones can be removed to complete the inlay.
10:24At this point, they use a variety of pointed metal tools
10:27to dig, cut, and scrape out a shallow recess
10:30in the marble several millimeters deep.
10:38To attach the stones to the marble,
10:40workers were said to have used a special glue
10:43consisting of sugar cane, beeswax, honey,
10:46lemon juice, marble dust, and lentils.
10:49This type of glue needed to be used right away
10:51and would expire quickly.
10:53Today, however, there are many synthetic alternatives
10:56that last longer and are easier to make.
10:59They mix an adhesive called auraldite
11:01with zinc powder and acrylic paint to create a paste.
11:05This will harden while the marble is being prepared.
11:08When ready for use, they heat the hardened glue
11:11with a hot coal so it's malleable
11:13and fill the entire gap in the marble.
11:18The stones are pressed one by one into the glue
11:21in the originally designed inlay pattern.
11:25Once the glue dries, they then use different types
11:28of sandpaper and polish pads to bring out the shine
11:31and smooth the surface.
11:34As they work, the pink dye is wiped away,
11:37leaving only white marble and brightly colored stonework.
11:41Artisans typically sell pieces like this
11:43to showrooms or marketplaces,
11:46which then resell them to buyers,
11:48many of whom are tourists visiting the Taj Mahal.
12:00The COVID-19 pandemic brought tourism to a halt,
12:05which led to a downturn in the marble inlay business.
12:19Arif says he hopes the government
12:20will one day open its own showroom
12:22and buy directly from artisans to help boost their business.
12:27Meanwhile, workers put in a lot of time
12:30and effort for little profit.
12:33But it's not just a decline in tourism
12:35that's a threat to the future of the craft.
12:37The job is not as lucrative as it once was,
12:40so many young people are opting for other fields.
13:02These days, Arif's son enjoys watching him work,
13:05but Arif says he'd never force him
13:08to become a Parchin Kari artist.
13:11Others, like Mohammed, don't plan on passing the legacy
13:14down to their kids.
13:32New workers are entering the trade, Arif says,
13:35but they are choosing simpler work
13:37that requires less training,
13:39like creating larger wall pieces or those with less stone.
13:48And the production of small, highly detailed pieces,
13:51the intoxicating work,
13:53is a challenge for the young.
14:02The work that's been passed down from generation to generation
14:06is in danger of being lost forever.
14:09But their creations will last for years,
14:13just as the Taj Mahal has withstood the test of time.
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