The availability of raw materials encouraged India to indulge in various creative arts and crafts. The raw materials varies from the highly expensive ivory, gold to cheaper materials like silver, stone, brass , iron, tortoise shell, clay, lacquer, wood, silk etc. Some of the arts and crafts are derived from the foreign countries and some are inherited from the ancient culture and an amalgamation of the modern trend and designs created wonders in the crafts and arts.

The social, religious and the political situations have been remained the influential factors for Indian art and culture. The implementation of various casts, religions and cultures has enhanced the intensity of the Indian art and craft. The examples from early period were the evidences of the art of terracotta or Clay art, Stone art, Copper art, Brass art, Ivory art, Gold jewelry art , Silver jewelry art , Wood art , lacquer art and the various arts and crafts that the Indian civilization are preoccupied with. A similarity was found in the artisanship of Mahenjo Daro and Mesopotemia , which proves the interrelationship of the two cultural relationships.

The caves of Ajanta, Ellora, Badami, Manallapuram, Aihole, Elephanta are exemplary of the stone art and clay art with their exclusively decorated pillars. The temples which carry the tradition and the instances of the craftsmanship of the ancient culture of India are the temple of the sun temple of Konarak, Vaikunda Perumal Temple - Kanchipuram, Puri Jagannath Temple, Kailasanadhar Temple - Kanchipuram Vimala Vasahi Temple, Ranganatha Temple - Srirangam, Mount Abu in Rajasthan & the Surya Temple-Modhera in Gujarat, Brahadeeswarar temple- Tanjavur, Kapaleeswarar Temple, Chennai and Meenakshi Amman Temple - Madurai. Some of the mosques were built following the tradition, style and technique of Mecca assimilating the Indian style.

The handicraft items of India have been highly admired for the decoration and the beatification of the materials and the art. The art that were once patronized by the Mughal emperors became refined and achieved the technique of mixing the art of India with the perception of the craft of the other countries.

The artisans of all times evolve the designs and the themes from the Nature and adopted them with their own artistic deft. The amalgamation of nature and the mind gave birth to the exclusive art forms and designs. The conception of the usage of metal came into the human mind after the realization of the durability and the glaze of the metals. The metallic beauty catches the eyes and admired by people of every region. This remained the reason of the expansion of the art of metal. The metal art by the Indian craftsmen thus became an exclusive art .The practice of the jewelry making was patronized by the ancient emperors and improved by the upcoming fashion and trend. The ritzy jewelries can be categorized as hair ornaments, necklaces, pendants, ear tops, earrings, anklets, bracelets, foot ornaments, rings etc. The `kundan work` and the `meenakari work` are the most adorable metal arts in India.

With the development of the silver jewelry art Silver ornaments are in demand in the modern era. Silver is used for the making of hair ornament which are called `morpatta` and `rakhadi`, The earrings of silver metal are named as `karan phul`, `phul jhumka`, `papal gatti`, `toti` and `lathan`. Silver anklets are named as `painri`and `paijam` and silver knitted ornaments are named as `gunchi`. `Lauang Kasuathi` is a kind of anklet which is made in Madhya Pradesh. In many places of India; especially in Bengal presenting metal utensils is a ritual. The child, at the time of his christening is gifted silver utensils. Silver is mostly used by the tribal people of the eastern, central and southern India. The tribes generally use silver for their physical adoration. They also use a kind of alloy which is Pewter, the imitation of silver. A kind of silver jewelry worn by the women of hilly parts of India is `chandanhar` which is a bunch of long silver chains linked by incised or enameled silver plaques. Other ornaments such as `hansali`- a kind of collar like necklace, `kach`, `kare`- a kind of silver bracelet. In Ladakh a special kind of ornament is fascinated, named as `Peerak`. Ornaments studded with precious and semi-precious stones are well admired by the people of different regions. Not only silver and gold but ivory, tortoise shells, pearls, beads and rudraksha are used for the jewelry purpose. The recent trend has managed to manufacture jewelry of light weight and different designs.

The journey of Indian art from the prehistoric caves to the modern era of metal art, tortoise shell art and ivory art thus unfolds the saga of changing traditions in India.