Colours of India

The Craft Bazaar brings together handicraft and handlooms from across the states

December 05, 2012 07:29 pm | Updated 07:29 pm IST - Coimbatore

Exhibition at Jayam’s Hall. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

Exhibition at Jayam’s Hall. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

A tiger stone neck chain with yellow topaz, red onyx and rose quartz stones thrown in for good measure looks elegant. It costs Rs.1, 250. “Its original madam,” says Radha Mohan from Jaipur.

There’s more. Green jade, pink jade, red opal, moon stone, and garnet. His silver jewellery collection comes with 65 per cent silver and there are earrings with ornamental stones as well as pendants, bracelets, and bangles to choose from. “The chain cools down your body and has ornamental value too,” he says about the neck chain made from cat’s eye stones. Though, he has priced the collection from Rs. 450 onwards, some of the silver earrings come for Rs.250. Radha Mohan is looking forward to a good sale at the Craft Bazar, an ongoing exhibition at Jayam’s Hall.

So is R.C. Sahu, a weaver from Orissa. He has got Sambalpur ikkat sarees, dress materials, dupattas, and blouse materials in an amazing range of colours. “It’s a lot of hard work and meticulous detailing,” he says and displays the pallu of a blue and maroon saree, beautifully woven, tie and dyed. “We are from Sambalpur,” smiles Sahu, who comes from a family of weavers. He adds that buyers in Coimbatore are appreciative of the art.

Lady with a lamp

Black metal idols made from copper and aluminium scrap from Hyderabad take up one corner. Check out the lady with a lamp in black metal at the entrance. A total of 80 pieces have been assembled to make an exquisite 6.5 ft tall lady idol. A single piece comes at Rs. 70,000. There’s a good range of cotton Anarkali tops. Some of them are vegetable dyed, and come with block prints. For the little ones (from one to 10 years), there are the traditional ghagra cholis, and kurta pyjamas, and dhoti and kurtas (for those below four years).

Mohammed Iqrar from Lucknow is a first timer to Coimbatore. He displays his chikan work collection. He shows off a peach saree in white and green chikan work, and in white and maroon on a mustard body. He says: “It takes three months for us to make one saree because it’s entirely handmade.” Sarees are priced at Rs. 1,400. There are chikan tops in cotton and chiffon that cost Rs. 950.

There’s a bangle corner and Ganpat Lal Verma from Jaipur can’t stop talking about it. “Jaipuri Lac bangles have intricate mirror and kundan work on them and they are done manually,” he says. Rajasthani kadas, bangles worked with finger nails, choti bangles (resembling plaited hair), bangles in zardosi, kumkum boxes, ash trays, pen stands…the list is endless.

At the Madurai Handloom Cloth Manufacturer’s Co-operative Marketing Society stall, you have tie and dye sarees in vegetable colours (Rs.680), batik sarees (Rs. 650) and chungudis (Rs. 550). The society supports 52 women under its wing. They also make half -silk sarees that are made from leftover Kanchipuram silk materials and cotton. They costs Rs.900.

In the Kantha work collection, there are dress materials, and impressive bed spreads with matching pillow covers and sarees. Pouches, bags, sarees in khadi silk, paper silk, zari…there is plenty to shop.

The exhibition is on at Jayam’s Hall, Race Course, till December 16, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. There is a 10 per cent discount on handicraft and jewellery and a 20 per cent discount on handlooms.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.