A slice of each state

The ‘Gujarat Handicraft Mela’, which is going on at the Premchandra Kalyana Mantap, is full of the colours and flavours of various states.

Craftsmen and handloom artistes from states like West Bengal, Odisha, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir etc are participating in the exhibition which will be on till May 25.

The venue is packed with artistes from different places showcasing the best of their works.

The stall from Gujarat has an array of popular Gujarati handloom like bandhni, chunni print, ajrak work etc in vivid colours and styles. Usha, who has come all the way from Kutch to showcase the handloom of Gujarat, says that she has brought different types of fabrics as well as prints for Bangaloreans.

“The people of Bangalore have a very good taste and many have taken an interest in what we sell. We have ‘bandhni’ cotton as well as silk saris.

There are ‘salwar kurta’ materials as well as bandhni and chunni print dupattas,” explains Usha.

Others like Balaram Debnath say that the sales are better during weekends.

“I have brought a huge collection of kantha saris, dress materials, Bengal cotton saris such as ‘tangail’ and tant as well as printed Bengal cotton saris. The response has been good so far but it could have been better,” says Balaram.

The metal inlay handicraft items from Rajasthan and the wide collection of costume jewellery are sure to attract the ladies.

Along with these, there are other handicraft items like blue pottery from Rajasthan, interesting terracotta and clay curios and beautiful paper mache curios from Kashmir.

The visitors are quite impressed and feel that the best of Indian handicrafts and handloom have been assimilated under one roof.

“I love the variety here. While on one end, there are ‘chikankari’ dress materials and ‘kurtas’, there are intricately carved curios from different parts of the country on the other. Everything is so colourful, bright and affordable,” she says.

The products on display are quite a treat for the art lovers. They also make people aware of the immense talent that exists in the country. The exhibition is on at the Premchandra Kalyana Mantap, near Ashoka Pillar in Jayanagar, till May 25.