Tarkashi technique is a metal inlay craft documented to be more than 500 years old and has Mughal influences. It involves embedding delicate flattened strips of brass, copper, or silver into wooden surfaces. During Sawai Jai Singh's reign in Amber, Sri Sarwan Lal Misra, a skilled artisan from Mainpuri, was invited to Jaipur to practice and teach this craft. Now, some four families and fifteen individuals within the Jangid community preserve the practice.

Tarkashi work can feature on doors, windows, mirror frames, Quranic boxes, inlaid containers, pens, penholders, lanterns, and ornamented shrines. The artisans use dark-hued and seasoned sheesham wood with high oil content. This helps secure the bond between the inlaid metal and the wood.

First, the artists sketch intricate designs onto the wood. They carve delicate patterns, creating grooves just 1mm deep. Then, thin strips of metal are heated and hammered into these grooves, creating small, coiled dot-like formations. These are called bhiriyan, which are directly embedded into the wood.

Visitors in Rajasthan can explore Tarkashi work in historical places and forts of Rajasthan. Such monuments showcase intricate floral and geometric patterns alongside ivory elements.

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