A distinctive leather and batik craft tradition that grew directly out of Visva-Bharati University's art school, still sold from the same Shantiniketan workshops today.
शांतिनिकेतन, पश्चिम बंगाल · Shantiniketan, West Bengal
Best known for its engraved and dyed leatherwork, bags, sandals, and journals worked with incised floral and folk motifs, alongside batik-dyed cloth, the Shantiniketan craft tradition developed as part of Kala Bhavana, the art college Rabindranath Tagore founded within Visva-Bharati University, blending fine-art training with hands-on craft practice.
The weekly Sonajhuri haat (market) near Shantiniketan remains the craft's best-known outlet, where artisans sell leather goods, batik textiles, and Kantha-embroidered cloth directly, keeping the tradition tied to the same small town it grew from.