Every once in a while the ‘Craft Bazaar’ adjacent to the Nehru statue at Gandhi Thidal on Beach Road comes alive with some exhibition. Most recently, it hosted an exhibition as part of the International Yoga Festival. In the past, it has been the venue for Liberation Day celebrations and other events. However, as per a project of the Tourism Department first proposed around 2005, the space was modelled to resemble the Dilli Haat in Delhi, a pedestrian-friendly permanent venue rented out to craftspeople to exhibit their products, with regular change of exhibition participants. The structure with 28 stalls, on the southern side of the Nehru statue, was designed by INTACH, undertaken by the Tourism Department and completed in 2011. Till date, it is yet to become the permanent Craft Bazaar it was touted to be.
At the inauguration of the Gandhi Shilp Bazaar held in October last year, Navraj Goyal, Additional Development Commissioner, (Handicrafts), Union Ministry of Textiles, and Lieutenant Governor A.K. Singh once again highlighted the need for a permanent venue for craftspeople in Puducherry, saying that the promotion of handicrafts was linked to the promotion of tourism.
“With the Lieutenant Governor’s suggestion about a craft bazaar, it was hoped that the government would act on it. The Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Union Ministry of Textiles, is willing to support this initiative. However, the Puducherry government, through the Tourism Department and Pudumai (Puducherry Handicraft Artisan Cooperative Society), has to approach us with a proposal,” says Ramamurthy, Deputy Director, Development Commissioner (Handicrafts). His department had suggested encouraging Puducherry artisans with wide representation in the bazaar, and slowly inviting artisans from other regions to also take part. “The idea has excellent potential. It is up to the government to take this up,” he adds.
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“The Gandhi Thidal area was designed like a plaza in the project, an open space enabling free flow of pedestrians around it and accessible from all sides, including the Bharati Park. The Craft Bazaar was designed to be open from both sides,” says Ashok Panda, co-convener, INTACH Puducherry. “If the Craft Bazaar is opened as a permanent venue, there will be no need to put up structures at the Gandhi Thidal each time there is an exhibition,” he adds.
The Puducherry-Auroville region is home to many artisans making a variety of products. “These artisans are highly skilled persons who require a platform to showcase their products,” says Kirti Chandak, director, Tasmai, who recently organised the Art-Y-Fair bringing together a host of artisans and their products under one roof.
“We organised the Art-Y-Fair as an interactive and intimate space where customers can come, see and understand the process by which these products are made. We have to make not just ‘in India’ but ‘for India’ as well,” she says. There is a need to have such interactive places, not just random exhibitions, she adds.
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Anand, who runs Nature Eco Products in Puducherry, agrees. “I had applied for the rental of a stall at the bazaar in 2009 with the municipality. Since there has been no word on that, I have been continuing the manufacturing and promotion of products on my own. It will be good to have a permanent venue where tourists can get handicrafts from Puducherry in one place,” he says.
When asked about the delay in the project, R. Mounissamy, director, Tourism Department, says that as the venue did not have individual gates/ doors for the stalls, craftspeople are worried about the ‘safety’ of their products. The department is planning to install some gate-like structure for the stalls this year.
An early proposal to have stalls of the Craft Bazaar on the northern side as well was shelved, and the Puducherry Municipality is working on developing the area opposite the Craft Bazaar to be a zone for pushcart vendors.