All that glitters are not gold , beware of fraud and inexperienced artists who claim to be usta artists. There are a few people practicing this art as tradition and unfortunately a few of them are commercial artists who have no knowledge about art and they have only one aim just to sell artifacts under any circumstances.
Beware of such people
USTA ART IS ONE OF THE RARE CRAFTS OF RAJASTHAN.THIS ART WAS ORIGINATED FROM IRAN AND WITH THE ARRIVAL OF MUGHALS IT CAME TO INDIA ,THE WORD USTA IS DERRIVED FROM THE PERSIAN WORD USTAD OR MASTER CRAFTSMEN AND THIS IS THE ONLY REASON THAT THIS ART IS FAMOUS AS USTA ART THE ORIGINAL NAME OF THIS ART IS SUNEHRI MUNNAWATI NAKKASHI AND IT CAN BE PRACTICED ON WALLS, CEILINGS,GLASS,WOOD AND CAMEL LEATHER ETC .
THIS ART CAME TO BIKANER IN THE PERIOD OF MHARAJA RAI SINGH JI,THE THEN KING OF BIKANER,IT WAS DUE TO THE EFFORTS OF GREAT USTA ARTISANS LIKE USTAD ALI RAZA AND USTAD RUKNUDDIN ,THE BIKANER SCHOOL OF MINIATURE DEVELOPED AND THEIR DECEDENTS HAD CREATED FINEST SITES OF THIS ART AT JUNAGARH FORT AND MANY HAVELIS WHICH IS VISIBLE TODAY ALSO.
THIS ART SURVIVED IN THIS CENTURY ONLY DUE TO THE EFFORTS OF PADAMSHREE HISAMUDDIN USTA ,WHO WAS THE FOUNDER OF USTA CAMEL HIDE TRAINING CENTRE AT BIKANER FOR THE PURPOSE OF IMPARTING SKILLS OF USTA ART TO YOUNG GENERATION. HE WAS SUCCESSFUL IN HIS MISSION TO SAVE THIS LANGUISHING CRAFT.
AFTER HIS DEATH,HIS DECIPLE, MR MOHAMMED HANEEF USTA WAS APPOINTED AS MASTER CRAFTSMAN AT USTA CAMEL HIDE TRAINING CENTRE WHO CONTINUED THE TRADITION OF THIS ART. HANEEF USTA WAS AWARDED NATIONAL AWARD IN THE YEAR 1993 FOR HIS VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THIS CRAFT.
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF HANEEF USTA RESTORATION AND RENOVATION WORK IS DONE AT WORLD FAMOUS MONUMENTS LIKE DARGAH HAZRAT KHWAJA MOINUDDIN CHISTY AJMER, DARGAH HAZRAT QUTBUDDIN BAKHTIYAR QAKI DELHI, DARGAH HAZRAT NIZAMUDDIN AULIYA DELHI, JUNAGARH FORT ,PRACHINA MUSEUM ETC IN RECENT YEARS.
BESIDES THIS WORLD FAME INSTITUTES NIFT DELHI ,NID GUJRAT, AND SHANTINIKETAN ETC SEND THEIR STUDENTS TO LEARN MINIATURE SKILLS OF USTA ART UNDER MR HANEEF USTA.
