Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Metal & Marble Masterpieces
You'll find copper and brassware throughout India. Candleholders, trays, bowls, tankards
and ashtrays are particularly popular buys.
Many Tibetan religious objects are created by inlaying silver in copper; prayer wheels,
ceremonial horns and traditional document cases are all inexpensive buys. Resist the urge
to buy
kangling
(Tibetan horns) and
kapali
(ceremonial bowls) made from inlaid human leg
bones and skulls - they are illegal!
In all Indian towns you can find
kadhai
(Indian woks, also known as
balti
) and other
cookware for incredibly low prices. Beaten-brass pots are particularly attractive, while steel
storage vessels, copper-bottomed cooking pans and steel thali trays are also popular
souvenirs. Be sure to have your name engraved on them (free of charge)!
The people of Bastar in Chhattisgarh use an iron-smelting technique, similar to the one
discovered 35,000 years ago, to create abstract sculptures of spindly animal and human fig-
ures. These are often also made into functional items such as lamp stands and coat racks.
PUTTING YOUR MONEY WHERE IT COUNTS
Overall, a comparatively small proportion of the money brought to India by tourism reaches people in rural areas.
Travellers can make a greater contribution by shopping at community cooperatives, set up to protect and promote
traditional cottage industries and provide education, training and a sustainable livelihood at the grassroots level.
Many of these projects focus on refugees, low-caste women, tribal people and others living on society's fringes.
The quality of products sold at cooperatives is high and the prices are usually fixed, which means you won't
have to haggle. A share of the sales money is channelled directly into social projects such as schools, healthcare,
training and other advocacy programs for socially disadvantaged groups. Shopping at the national network of
Khadi and Village Industries Commission emporiums will also contribute to rural communities.
Wherever you travel, keep your eyes peeled for fair-trade cooperatives.
