One-stop shop for authentic handicrafts

Exquisite Items

This is the third branch of the emporium in the City. This showroom, called ‘Cottage’, will make it convenient for residents of Koramangala, BTM Layout and nearby townships to purchase handicrafts and artisan goods.

On the occasion, artisans from the Regional Design and Technical Development Centre (RDTDC) gave demonstrations of clay work, block-printing, sheet metal embossing, and wood carving outside the showroom.

“We were called here today to showcase and explain the intricacies of designing and the technical angle to those who might be interested,” says M Prabhakaran, Senior Assistant Director, RDTDC.

The store was inaugurated by Rita Menon, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, who also launched the silk mark label for the Central Silk Board of India. The label is like a security seal which will be fused to the fabric to authenticate its purity, thereby bringing in consumer protection as well as preventing the silk weavers from incurring losses due to counterfeiting.

“‘Cottage’ is India’s window to the world for authentic handloom and handicrafts,” says Rita, while exploring what the store has on display. “‘Cottage’ has emerged as the largest emporium in the country, engaged in the marketing of unique quality handicraft and handloom products in India and abroad,” she adds.

If that isn’t incentive enough to visit the store, one should visit the place just out of respect for the country’s rich but underpaid artisans. “When you buy a product from ‘Cottage’ emporium, you are assured as a customer that the money has gone directly to the talented artisans and weavers, who are otherwise not given their rightful dues for their skills and long hours of labour,” says Alka Arora, Managing Director, CIIC.

“This is also a way to preserve our cultural heritage, given the mechanisation and industrialisation that India has seen over the last few decades,” she adds. The product range at ‘Cottage’ include sarees and other ready-made garments, home furniture décor, jute products, carpets, jewellery, papier maché, wood and metal craft, and other exquisite handicrafts and handloom items.