Lippan Kaam
Mud and mirror, turning walls into lanterns
In the round bhunga houses of Banni, women raise relief patterns of clay and camel dung on the walls, pressing in fragments of mirror. By lamplight a finished wall scatters light like a constellation — insulation, architecture and art in one gesture. Lippan has moved from village interiors to galleries, but it still begins with mud worked by hand.
- Base coat
Walls are plastered smooth with a clay and dung mix that keeps interiors cool through desert summers.
- Relief work
Rolled ropes of clay are pinched into peacocks, camels and geometric borders directly on the wall.
- Mirror setting
Mirror pieces — round, diamond, almond — are pressed into the wet clay at the pattern's heart.
- Whitening
A final lime wash turns the relief bright white, ready to catch every flame and sunrise.
- — Banni villages — Hodka, Ludiya
- — Bhirandiyara village homes
- — Craft resorts around Dhordo
