Segment I: SHOPPERS AHOY! The joyous shopper's guide to India's rich and versatile shopping experience!

How you can enhance your Indian shopping experience with smart, pocket-friendly and unique souvenirs: A Travelmartindia.com exclusive for our honored tour guests- and also those wanting a taste of good life-the Travelmartindia.com way: regal, comfortable and completely customized to your needs!

Why do you need a Happy Shopper's Guide to India? Well, to begin with, we give you the local expert's view on how best to experience Indian shopping delights like none other in the world! With years of tourism experience on how foreign tourists can avoid being fleeced by many unauthorized traders and having extensive knowledge of authentic Indian products and the regions that are best known fore each, thanks to wide networking between guides, operators and manufacturers, Travelmartindia steers you towards Indian souvenirs that are reasonable and unforgettably native to India.

A brief history about uniquely Indian products: what you are shopping for may have a story to tell too.

Many of the Indian arts and crafts consist of skills that were originally passed down from father to son (remember that ancient Indian was predominantly a patriarchal society, therefore the emphasis on the son learning the trade; however, certain skills were imparted to the womenfolk as well) and remained in the family for centuries-much akin to the guild system in Europe. These traditions and techniques were unique to each crafter's community depending largely on the place of origin i.e. Eastern India had cotton embroidery and block printed fabrics with jute products also made with typical designs while Western India counterparts of a weaver's family would use different colors and motifs that reflected lifestyles and possibly religious figures exclusive to their customary delineations of the same.

Thus, while the loss of enthusiasm and perhaps, partly even lack of talent on the part of youngsters in a craftsman's family, led to them teaching the skills to those outside the home-community, many ancient Indian crafts have died a natural death for want of patronage and skilled artisans to carry them forth.

The ones that have remained to date have governmental and privatized firm efforts to thank for their survival along with the raised levels of awareness by the tourism, trade and commerce industries in India, which have brought the indigenous products glory and fame by showcasing them before foreign benefactors that appreciate the uniqueness and worth of the workmanship.

Some of these distinctively regional Indian products that most of our foreign guests have reported as being top favorites are included in our guide segment below with details on their variety and places of availability, just for you. Each Indian town has its own specialties with skilled local craftsmen that contribute to making quality Indian products a benchmark for antique skills that blend modern aesthetics to bring you the experience of exotic, majestic and mystical India: India as it was centuries ago, India as it is for wide-eyed wanderers today and the India that shines in hope for the days to come.

A glorious assortment of Indian fabrics such as brocades and silks, spices, gold ornaments and silverware, carpets, sculptures, antique wood-worked furniture and gift items, marble and sandstone carvings - reasonable prices at state-run emporiums and other shopping opportunities for you in weekly local bazaars and established shopping zones in Indian cities are covered in the next segment.

Segment II: All aboard for Indian shores! The Land where the Sun never sets on the Shopping -incredible, enticing, fascinating, fun, affordable and exclusive - experience the India that you want it to be, and more!

Indulge in friendly road-side shopping bargains for souvenirs or enter the professionally managed and fixed rates of state-emporiums for Indian keepsakes and grander purchases that have a timeless grace and uniquely Indian flavor!

From best bargains and hassle-free shop-till-you-drop tips about places, style-buys and products exclusively Indian when you set foot on gracious, welcoming and exotic Indian soil, we detail for you all the elements for an enjoyable shopping in India experience!

Top scorers on Travelmartindia's shopping in India guide: Indian textiles, jewelry and carvings, woodcraft and allied products as well as region-specific handicrafts! Read on for a deeper insight into the heart of the crafter's communities in India and what they offer you by way of souvenir shopping.

• Textiles: are one of the biggest of Indian industries with a heady mix of silks, cottons and wools that have converted millions of foreign tourists to Indian to using and gifting these uniquely Indian fabrics and associated products made from a wide range of above fabric-blends and color choices as well those with embroidery, bead-work and delicate motifs patterned in prints and plains.


Of course, the pure varieties of Indian silks, cottons and wools are tagged at a higher price range unless bought from wholesale marketers or craftsman's villages, but the mixes rank high on the popularity charts for easy availability in most Indian towns and more affordable price tags.

Indian cities like Varanasi (also known as Benares, with a rich silk variety named after it too) Kanchipuram, Patna, Murshidabad and Surat are best known for their silk fabrics while the states of Bengal (Dhakai cotton), Uttar Pradesh (Chikankaari on muslin blends) and Rajasthan (tie-and-die patterns, block prints and mirror-worked embroidery) boast fine cotton textiles that are, for the most part, brightly colored, but available in pastel shades also.


• Jewelry: from India makes for great gifting ideas as many ancient techniques using moulds for making gold and silver ornaments are used till date by traditional craftsmen and states such as Rajasthan are known particularly for the intricate and colorful embedded designs such as displayed in Meenakari and Kundan pieces. A wide variety of precious and semi-precious gems and filigree worked jewelry pieces at affordable prices make for stunning souvenirs of Indian hand-crafted charms in different mediums.



• Touch wood! In a wide range of styles, too: especially when one considers the rosewood products available in Kerala and Chennai are as fascinating and exquisitely carved as the sandalwood items that neighboring Karnataka has to offer. Kashmir in the north of India offers special gift items made of walnut wood while Uttar Pradesh is known for whittled and carved furniture items.



• Native handicraft items: souvenirs that are conversation pieces too! Most state-emporiums in all major Indian cities will have an exclusive range of many small to large gift items made of bronze, brass, marble, silver as well as ivory and leather.
  
  While other craft-forms such as papier mache, which is exclusive to Kashmir and at times displays gold leaf designs for an extra glam dose and jute-products from Bengal that represent local deities to flower and other nature motifs are much sought after for their distinctive charm, it is often the marble replicas of the Taj Mahal in miniature form and the chess sets with alabaster inlay work, such as chess sets and ornamental plates, Agra's niche area of souvenir sales, that get many takers.


Other handicraft items finding good sales include affordable and road-worthy Indian leatherwork sandals and slippers as well as small pottery items like miniature diyas, (earthen lamps, now available with dried flower motifs and fragranced versions as well) herbal and natural scented or unscented oils and supplements as well as tiny sets of earthenware village utensils. (The brass versions are also popular in miniature form).

Segment III: Where the gadding gets you great buys - India's shopping hot-spots!

We assure you, you can walk the length and breadth of these hot-deals regional segments in India and yet crave more than you can carry for India's a veritable treasure house of unique and beautiful craftsmanship in many native handicraft items, jewelry, textiles, leather, hand-woven fabric goods and more!

Perhaps one of the reasons why our Ayurvedic spa packages seem to have more takers more frequently is the encouragement for shank's pony being at an all-time high when foreign visitors come face to face with the endless possibilities for value-for-money shopping that India offers! But, we're not really saying that: it's for you to enjoy and judge for yourself!

Street Shopping: Friendly bargaining will get you everywhere- as long as you remember to hold out against any emotional theatrics shown by hawkers towards starving children should you stick to your cut-down from original price! It's a skill that has been honed to an art-form by most Indians but Westerners may still need a bit of practice with striking a bargain since the hawkers themselves do not expect to be paid the original asking price and thus, its best to source out appropriate prices from local friends or your tour guide before price-negotiations.

At times, of course, due to a slump in tourism in certain sectors, the salespersons may be struggling to make ends meet and genuinely need to adhere to a strict no-bargaining policy; however, in most situations of street shopping in India, the hawkers are game for a bit of good-natured haggling should the customers keep it respectful and perhaps even be willing to walk away, quoting a 'last price.'

A good rule of thumb for street shopping in India is to cut down the price by at least twenty-five percent, if not half. From clothing to footwear, souvenirs, road-side book stalls, even the occasional audio and video equipment and accessories available along street shops, most items are open to bargaining - you simply need patience and a strong instinct to make the right hits.

Go Goa! For great bargains and hot deals: Goa's the place to go for flea markets on the beach front at Anjuna, every Wednesday during high season that have an ambience reminiscent of the happy, hip-hop from the sixties- with wacky clothes and way-out thingamabobs, ranging from old gramophone records, reasonably priced porcelain figurines, beeswax candles for all occasions, crocheted bedspreads, heirlooms someone's sure to be missing, odd bits of furniture to old wine- the market's got it all! Even tattoo and hair braiding artistes should you be so inclined to give yourself a make-over for the moment!

Just Jaipur, yet marvelously majestic even today: the regal aspect of one of India's most princely states, Rajasthan, offers many opportunities to tourists for studying skilled artisans producing exclusive hand-worked fabric pieces such as skirts (ghagras) and blouses (cholis), tie-and-die dupattas (long scarves) and ornamental souvenirs with precious and semi-precious stones: the minakars, kundan workers, gem-cutters and ornament makers all have workshops at lanes adjoining the main market area while other areas in the city afford a close-up to techniques of stone carving. Traditional slippers and and jutis (embroidered and beaded leather footwear), soft and light-weight quilts, famous blue pottery products, wide range of carpets, brassware and traditional sweets are other good buys.

The heart of India, Delhi- and Delhi's heart? Dilli Haat: comprising mainly of a group of skilled craftsmen from various Indian villages, the Delhi government's efforts towards organizing this sector of commerce are laudable; herbal products, paintings or antiques, traditional garments from various Indian states and even reasonably priced ethnic food all find buyers picking up hand-made jewelry, linen, crockery, ceramics, rugs, furniture and other Indian knick-knacks.

Another hot-tourist shopping spot in Delhi is undoubtedly the bustling lanes of Janpath market, a street that boasts more foreigners than locals on best days and offers wide variety of handloom garments, tribal and traditional jewelry, fabric and bead-worked bags and wall hangings, hand-made paper items, copper and oxidized silver souvenirs with intricate inlay work while the long line of state emporiums on Baba Kharak Singh Marg present well-organized shopping expeditions that tight-on-time tourists crave.

Time permitting, Hauz Khas village offers authentic cottage industry products from various Indian regions, especially noteworthy ones being souvenirs made of bamboo, terracotta and ceramic ware and is worth a visit; the same stands true of Delhi's Meena Bazar, near the historic Jama Masjid building housing many an antique, Chandni Chowk with its veritable lanes and by-lanes gives the patient shopper opportunities to buy gold and diamond jewelry as well as fine cloth at half rates of exclusive south Delhi shops.

Mumbai! More shopping power! Even though Mumbai is known for its many shopping plazas and malls that are home to many famous houses of fashion, it is for the pavement shopping experience that the erstwhile Bombay city is best remembered!

Bargain for your money's worth and you are sure to get it too- or else, head for the government emporium that stocks a wide range of Indian handicrafts with at least a dekkho at Chor Bazaar, Mumbai's flea market specializing in great buys in brassware and copper, antique glass, wood-worked and cast-iron products. Mumbai's other shopping greats include Zaveri Bazaar, Colaba Causeway and Crawford Market.

Southern India's shopping splendors - Chennai's charms: Silks and cottons from Chennai and nearby Kanchipuram make for ideal gifts for ladies that appreciate fine fabrics - and these are available without breaking the bank, at the many state emporiums on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road.

Other hand worked products from the southern tip of India sculptures in bronze, sandalwood items, rosewood inlay work with ivory and Thanjavur paintings. Soapstone and black granite sculptures as well as divine representations in carvings vie with shopping choices afforded to visitors by cane, leather and assorted spice packagings.

Oh Calcutta! Kolkata of today holds the old value for money bargains of yesteryear -with leisurely buying experiences of a bygone era ever-present in the genteel sales folk even today. This aspects makes for an unhurried and memorable shopping expedition for all tourists visiting Kolkata's New Market area, the oldest municipal bazaar market, offering a wide range of clothing, books, dry fruits and confectionary items, silver filigree worked souvenirs and fancy wood and leather items.

Adjoining streets still bear witness to the British Raj in terms of holding on to original English names, such as Bertram Street and Shakespeare Sarani, which also offer novelties, jewelry, affordable electrical goods and appliances, antique wooden furniture and musical instruments that at a fraction of the market price elsewhere. Kolkata's Dakshinapan Market is home to handloom and other locally made handicraft items, which make for an affordable and convenient buy when figuring out ideal Indian souvenirs.

• Please remember that the government of India does not permit export of antiques and art objects over 100 years old, animal skins or objects made from skins. It's recommended to consult your tour consultant about the items you can safely take back with you from India and the permissible quantity of the same.

Here's to happy hearts and tired feet!!