Sawantwadi is one of the very few places in India where the ancient tradition of ganjifa — hand-painted circular playing cards — is still practised by living artisans. The cards are made by the Chitari community, who live and work in the narrow lanes behind the Raj Wada palace. Each card is built from multiple layers of old cloth glued together with tamarind paste, then coated with khadi (chalk) before being hand-painted with natural pigments using fine squirrel-hair brushes.
Visitors can watch the full process in the workshops and buy finished cards and decorative pieces directly from the makers. Prices range from a few hundred rupees for small decorative cards to several thousand for elaborate royal-court sets. The craft revival has been supported by craft organisations and the royal family's Sawantwadi Palace craft initiative. If you want to watch skilled artists at work on something genuinely rare and beautiful, these workshops are the main reason to come to Sawantwadi.