Exhibition of hand-crafted pieces from Odisha
Pick up a pair of soft camel leather ‘jutties’ from Haryana, minutely embroidered with jari and sparkling with mirror pieces. Or embellished with jaali work and a hint of gold patterning, ideal for the festive season. There’s intricate jaali work too on marble and soft-stone lamps, candle stands and boxes etc. And, if you are looking for more gifts with a difference, there are onyx boxes, lamp stands, sheesham wood boxes, baubles and bangles.
Festive spirit
The Odisha Crafts Mela catches the festive spirit with a plethora of gifts spanning both the traditional and the contemporary. Odisha’s beautiful palm-leaf wall hangings in soft vegetable colours share space with thombais and patchwork wall-hangings, silk paintings from Rajasthan and richly textured Tanjore art. Brass icons and artefacts are part of the varied craft exhibits.
For party and festive wear, there are embroidered kantha blouses with Kashmiri floral motifs in brilliant colours along with traditional peacock motifs. Odisha’s ikat saris and blouse pieces, Kashmir’s hand-embroidered tops and kurtas along with Gujarat’s block prints and handloom saris vie with each other for attention.
Neck pieces with semi-precious stones of outstanding cut and quality, beautifully crafted earrings and pendants in sterling silver are captivating.
Stone appeal
Many of the pendants, earrings and necklaces feature uncut semi-precious stones such as cornelian, garnet and amethyst set in sterling silver. Faceted cornelian necklaces, uncut pearls in fascinating shapes, large-sized turquoise and malachite malas are some of the must-have pieces on view.
(The Odisha Craft Mela is on at Sri Sankara Hall, 267, TTK Road, Alwarpet till August 26)
