Preserving our rich heritage

Indian flavour

Dastkar’s Nature Bazaar is going on in the City. The bazaar showcases crafts made by craftspeople from across India.

The key attractions of the festival are the programmes and workshops, being held
in the premises, like clay modelling, Madhubani painting, pottery, making products from waste, puppet making, putul crafts and toy making.

In addition to these, there is also a mix of cultural performances like Goptipuia dance from Orissa, and Lambani dance from Karnataka.

Exciting food, craft workshops, puppet shows for kids, and lots of music, dance and entertainment make this bazaar fun for the entire family.

But it is the vibrancy of the festival that catches your attention, not to mention over 100 stalls filled with everything from toys to food products to clothes to fashionable bags.  

The Dastkar family, which includes over 100 craft groups from 19 states of India, is dedicated to enhancing the economic and social well being of India’s crafts people, helping preserve the rich craft heritage of our country.

And the bazaar, which is an initiative of the group, has a wide variety of art and
crafts from all across the country.

From the sheer Maheshwaris and Chanderis to the subtle Tussars of Bhagalpur and Maharashtra, everything is available under one roof.

Also available are block-printed, embroidered and woven textiles from Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

Apart from this, the added attractions are the Mat weavers from West Bengal, Bodo weaving and black stone pottery communities from Assam and Manipur.

The popular Indigo, Kantha and Shibori group from Bangladesh called ‘Living Blue’ is also participating in the fare for the first time, showcasing a vibrant and contemporary range of creations by artisans from North-West Bangladesh.

The fare also showcases a lot of home accessories, embossed and embroidered leather, contemporary metal ware, cane, coir, bamboo and carved wood furniture, toys for children, and gift items for all ages.

Other items include accessories and embellished garments with tribal and mirror work embroideries from Karnataka, Kutch and Rajasthan, which attract attention from the
fashionable crowd for their colours.

And for the people who are into organic products, there are natural oils, organic and herbal products from Uttranchal.

For those in love with food, there is a food court serving delicacies from Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Hyderabad.

One can savour the paranthas, mouth-watering varieties of suparis and namkeen of different kinds.

The festival has a distinct flavour of India’s culture and is a great way knowing what each state of the country has to offer to the people of Bangalore.

The Nature Bazaar is on till August 15, from 11 am to 8.30 pm, at Gayatri Vihar, Palace Grounds.