Crafts bazaar in Alwarpet

At the Corporation hall on C. P Ramaswamy Road, a crafts bazaar is on now. I went there with my mother on a Sunday.
It was a very nice exhibition where I could discover a lot about our art and culture. The shopkeepers were friendly and were willing to tell us about what they were selling.

Mr. Bishnu Prasad Mishra who was selling handicrafts from Orissa showed me appliqué work known Pipli art from Puri. It is made by cutting pieces of cloth into shapes, usually of peacocks and elephants. There were beautiful beach umbrellas and lamp shades with Pipli art. He then showed me tribal art from Kalahandi. It is made by painting on cardboard using  stone and  seashell powder. He also showed me palm leaf engravings from Raghavpur in Orissa. It is made by engraving stories on a palm leaf using a reed pen. I saw a painting of the Krishna Leela.

There was a stall selling Rajasthani mouth fresheners and digestives. In this stall I saw  ‘rose dates’ – dates boiled in rose water. After that something called ‘Chulbuli imli’ caught my sight. It is whole tamarind boiled in sugar syrup! Beside that sat ‘honey amla’ which is gooseberries soaked in honey- excellent for colds. Just then I spotted ‘ice cream supari’. It looked very exciting and mysterious. The shopkeeper told me that it was a mouth freshener made of ground betel nuts with ice cream flavoring.

I then strode into an inner room containing beautiful furniture made of Seesham wood and mango wood from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. There some antique jewelry boxes that looked like treasure chests. There were also beautifully carved cupboards, dressers and study tables.

There was a stall selling antique toys and vessels from Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu. There were brass vessels and enamels. I saw two games of Tamil Nadu ‘Dayam’ and ‘Pallankuzhi’. In the game of Dayam, the dice are made of brass and the board of marble. But the board needn’t necessarily be made of marble. It can also be drawn on the floor.

Outside the hall, furniture from Jaipur were displayed . There was a beautiful swing made of Seeshum wood polished with brass polish. It was hand carved so it took two months to make. The other furniture had Rajasthani miniature paintings on them. There were chairs which you could dismantle and assemble again. Some furniture had backs made of leather.

The exhibition also had other interesting things such as toys, cups, wind chimes and earrings.

If you have time please do go there before the end of October when it will close.

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