The fourth generation of the family travels from Germany to Jaipur every year on Diwali to make and sell ink, which is still used by businessmen, universities and traditional healers.
The fourth generation of the family travels from Germany to Jaipur every year on Diwali to make and sell ink, which is still used by businessmen, universities and traditional healers.
keep alive legacy A Vaishya family in the Walled City, during the reign of the Kachwaha rulers Jaipur still building indelible black ink or the black ink used to issue the Royal 250 years ago firmman (decree) and writing the ledger. The fourth generation of the family now makes ink every year on Diwali.
While the former royal family used ink for their official transactions and writings, princely merchants used it to maintain their accounts. Universities established after independence also awarded degrees written in this ink to their students. It was believed that the ink, with its promise of permanence, warded off evil and brought prosperity to its users.
The ink makers, who lived in the nearby city of Sanganer, were invited to the Walled City by the Jaipur royals 255 years ago and given a shop at Tripolia Bazar at a nominal cost. The modest shop, now divided into the family, still exists today under a descriptive name, Black ink shop.
The great-grandson of Hari Narayan Bam of Sanganer, who was patronized by the royals, is Lokesh Bam, a jeweler now settled in Idar-Oberstein in Germany. However, he still makes it a point to stay in Jaipur every year on Diwali and manufacture ink at his ancestral shop. Mr Bomb then sells the ink to Marwari businessmen who follow the practice of starting their account with holy ink after Lakshmi Puja.
Mr Bum told Hindu That indelible ink was made from natural ingredients and that its manufacture involved a traditional process passed down through generations. “Black ink is prepared by chanting of mantras on the new moon night. it is made of Kajal (homemade mascara), gondoo (edible gum), and some other herbal ingredients that are locally sourced,” he said. The youngest of three brothers, Mr. Bomb learned the process of making ink from his mother.
The ink also has medicinal properties, as some of its ingredients were previously used in the traditional Ayurvedic system for healing and healing wounds. some major physicians And Hakeemso In Jaipur (traditional healers) have been using ink to treat skin disorders such as eczema.
For many years Padma Shri awardee and revered Sant Narayan Das Maharaj of Triveni Dham near Jaipur visited black ink Shop every year on Diwali to sanctify the ink before it is released for sale. After Maharaj’s death in 2018, one of his disciples comes to the shop and performs the rituals.
Mr Bomb, who has completed a course on “Entrepreneurship and Innovation in an Age of Change” from the London School of Economics and Political Science, said his intention is to promote ink in Europe, taking a family tradition to an international level. Go. “While there is hardly any demand for ink in this age of technological advancement, I have continued the tradition by patiently and carefully collecting the material,” he said.
Although the traditional art of writing with ink lost its charm with the advent of the ball pen, computer and smartphone, Mr. Bomb said his passion to preserve the indelible black ink legacy was a tribute to his ancestors who worked hard Was. to develop it.
“When I gift a bottle of black ink and a feather pen to my customers, they are extremely delighted with these exotic objects,” he said.