Places To Visit In India for shopping

 

India is really  a paradise for every shopaholic.The things you can find here cannot be found anywhere else in the world.  From jewelry to handicrafts, from textiles to furniture, you will find endless variety in even the smallest of things. Some of the best things you can buy in India, and the perfect destination you will find them are listed out in this article. 

Hyderabad, Telangana

Hyderabad is one of Indias biggest cities with a prestigious past. The city was a major centre for the Chalukya dynasty. In 1769, it became the capital of the Nizams. Back in the day, it was called the city of pearls and diamonds, and some of it stands true even today.

In Hyderabad, you get pearls of every price and range, of various shades, and of various kinds. You could buy just earrings, or entire pearl sets, but this is the place to get yourself some good old pearl jewellery.

                                            Kanchipuram,Tamil Nadu

Kanchipuram otherwise known as Kanchi is a city in the  state of Tamil Nadu, 72 km from Chennai – the capital of Tamil Nadu.The place is famous for many Hindu Temples 

                                         Ekambareswarar Temple,Kanchipuram

Today a typically hectic modern Indian town, it's famed for its numerous important and vibrant temples, some dating from Pallava, Chola or Vijayanagar times, and also for its high-quality silk saris, woven on hand looms by thousands of families in the city and nearby villages. Silk and sari shops are strung along Gandhi Rd, southeast of the centre, though their wares are generally no cheaper than at Chennai silk shops.

                                                                                Kanchipuram SIlk Saree

 Mysore, Karnataka 

Mysore is located in the state of Karnataka, 146 km away from Bangalore. It offers great tourist attractions including three palaces - Amba Vilas, Jaganmohana Vilas and Rajendra Vilas. But apart from that, theres plenty to buy in Mysore.
 

The best option would be sandalwood handicrafts, which are a dime a dozen. You can pick up some really nice hand crafted decoration pieces for your home. The good thing about these products is that the aroma of sandalwood is retained in these products. 

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 

Varanasi or Benaras, located in Uttar Pradesh, is one of Indias busiest cities. Besides, it is also considered the spiritual capital of India.

It is the best place to buy gorgeous Banarasi silk saris, in the most unique colour combinations, and sometimes even with zari work. If you are looking for something expensive, you can buy one with a gold and silver brocade without which your bridal trousseau is incomplete. It is also the perfect place to buy kamandalam (the utensil saints use for drinking water) and other brass-ware from here. 

Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh

Saharanpur is located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, and is full of fertile agricultural land where grains and fruits grow aplenty. However, if you are looking for traditional furniture for your house, this is the place to go.

At Saharanpur, you can find the best carved wooden furniture. If you are looking for old school wooden partitions, you should definitely visit this place.

Tripura

Tripura, located in north-eastern India, is the third smallest state in the country.

If you are someone who likes minimalism, then you are bound to like bamboo furniture. Its light weight, easy to maintain and classy looking. Tripura is the place to go to for bamboo beds, sofa sets, tables and partitions.

Kolkata, West Bengal 

Kolkata(formerly Calcutta), capital of West Bengal, is considered the cultural centre of the country. Apart from vintage buildings, and old school bakeries, Kolkata is a shopping hub too. 

Bengal cotton sarees and Tangail sarees are very famous items to be purchased in Kolkata's markets. 

Every wardrobe is incomplete without at least one of these.

Jaipur, Rajasthan

Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, is the place to go to soak in some history. The city is surrounded by forts and mahals that force you back in time.

As far as shopping is concerned, Jaipur has a little too much to offer.  Apart from buying quilts, rajais, silver jewellery and gem stones, you can buy thewa jewellery from here. Thewa is made on molten glass, and gold is embossed on it. One piece of thewa jewellery takes about a month to get ready as it requires fine craftsmanship. It originated during the Mughal era, and very few villages continue to make this jewellery.

Surat, Gujarat 

Surat, located in the state of Gujarat, is on the rise in terms of development. Additionally, it is also called the diamond city of the world.

Thus, its obvious that this is your stop to buy diamonds. From uncut raw diamonds to solitaire rings, you will get everything here. 

Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Jodhpur, set in the beautiful landscape of the Thar desert is the city of forts, palaces and temples. Evenings here are spectacular, and its a photographer's delight to capture the sunset here.

But more than that, this is another place where you can buy plenty of things. But we suggest you visit this place for the best mojaris. You can get a great variety in these. From very basic pairs to the ones in solid pastel colors, you will find all sorts of mojaris here. For men too!

 Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh

Firozabad is about 240 km from Delhi. It is believed that during the rule of Akbar, revenue was brought in through this city. Apart from having a historical significance, this city is called the city of bangles. The glass bangles, to be precise, are to die for. 

Firozabad has a big glassware industry. There are over 400 factories of glass in this place, where articles like coloured glass pieces for chandeliers and so on are made. Make sure you wrap up your trip with a few boxes of bangles.

 Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh is also known as the city of nawabs. This is also the city where you will find the worlds yummiest kebabs. Lucknow is also an important centre of government, education, tourism, music and poetry.

But there's a lot to shop for. Make sure you buy some chikankari work from here. Moreover, Lucknow is also a place you will find traditional fragrances, so don't stop yourself from buying a few tiny bottles of those scents.

Tips for saving ink and money while using Inkjet printers

Most of the Inkjet printers cost a lot of money in maintenance since they dry very fast and we have to refill or replace the ink cartridges often.

By following these tips on the right way to use the printer we can save a lot of ink and money.

1) Avoid purchasing  cheap printers.

There are a lot of cheap printers in  the market today. It's important to be careful when buying them as the companies selling them might be looking to make their profit off of the ink cartridges rather than the printer itself. When buying a printer you should always look at the prices of the ink cartridges and their "life-span".

2) Use the right font.

A few years ago, several American students shocked the world by showing that if their government switched to a thinner font, it could save about 400 million dollars a year. While you won't be able to save that kind of money yourself, using a simple and thin font ( Garamond) can improve your ink usage by about 20%.

3) Use the low-quality setting.

Unless you are printing photos or really small items, there is no need to print in the higher printer settings. You can change this in the print setting after you send a document to the printer, usually under "print properties" or something similar. And unless you really have to use color, printing in black and white is recommended.

4) Use recycled cartridges.

Many shops today offer none-original ink in recycled packs, while some even 

offer refills if you bring your own empty cartridges. 

Printer companies claim this might harm your printer, but there is no clear evidence to support that.

5) Try using a refill kit at home.

Some ink cartridges can be refilled with a simple kit you can use at home and it's often very cheap to buy at stores. 

The big downside of this is the potential mess it might create and the work you will need to do each time you use it. However, if these things don't bother you, it's a pretty cheap way to do things.

6) Keep printing.

Just your car tells you it is out of gas even before the tank is empty, your printer will tell you it is out of ink even when there is still some left. This means that you can keep on printing, even with a low ink warming. It just means the writing might be a little grayer. It might also help if you just take out the cartridge and put it back in.

7) Save paper.

Printing paper can be just as expansive as ink and you can save a lot of money by printing on both sides of each page. Most modern printers have an automatic option to do so, you just need to turn it on. Take a look at the printer manual to see how it is done.

8) Save room when printing presentations.

If you are printing a PowerPoint presentation, you can put about 4 slides in a page and still read them with ease. 

This will save you both ink and paper. To do so, just look at the print menu on PowerPoint and change the settings to your liking.

9) Don't print the test paper.

Many printers do a test printing when you turn them on with no real reason. 

Look at the printer manual to find out how to disable this and only use your ink and paper on what you really need.

10) Print something once a week.

If you don't use your printer for a long time, the ink in the bottom of the cartridge can dry out and then the whole cartridge becomes useless. To prevent this just print out a single line of text once a week. 

11) Wait before turning off your printer.

After a print job is done, the cartridge is returned to a protected and closed part of the printer. If you force it to shut down before it can do that, you risk the ink drying up and maybe even leaking.

12) Only print the final version.

There is no bigger waste than printing something only to discover an error and then having to print it again. It is important to double-check spelling and page layout before you print a document to make sure you won't need to do it again.

Visit to Shilpharamam,Hyderabad

  Shilparamam entrance  

During this year Pongal holidays,I visited Shilparamam in Hyderabad with my family and enjoyed watching many handicraft items in the stalls,beautiful ambiance of the place with lovely flowers and purchasing some household items.
This article is a compilation  about Shilparamam with the pictures taken by me and some pictures from Google photos. 

Shilparamam is an arts and crafts village located in Madhapur, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

The village was conceived with an idea to create an environment for the preservation of traditional crafts. There are ethnic festivals round the year.

Shilparamam,  conceived in the year 1992, is situated just about few kilometers from Hyderabad city. Sprawling over 65 acres (260,000 m²) of land in the hi-tech hub city of India, Shilparamam gives a scenic ambience of tradition and cultural heritage. For promotion and preservation of Indian arts and crafts and to motivate the artisans, the state government established this platform.

Enchanting the blend of arts and artifact, epitomizing the true legacy with the diverse natural beauty of rural India; Shilparamam is tribute to Andhra Pradesh(Now Telengana). Exhibiting the rustic richness and creativity of Hyderabad, it has captivated the imagination of visitors.
                            

The lush and serene environment of Shilparamam is sculpted with woodwork, jewellery, cloths and local crafts of each region of the country. Showcasing a plethora of artistic ethos, Shilparamam is set amidst gardens, cascading waterfalls and natural rock heights.
                            

 Major Attractions at Shilparamam

The Rural Museum

The rural museum, surrounded by trees, is a miniature depiction of typical Indian village. Over 15 life-sized huts, authentically constructed out of baked clay and thatch, depict rural and tribal lifestyles and the life of various artisans. It provides a window to rural life for city dwellers and those who have never visited a village before. The museum houses sculptures and life size models depicting the day-to-day activities of the rural artisans.

Image courtesy :Google photos

Image courtesy :Google photos

Boating

Shilparamam has a beautiful lake which also offers the delight of boating in it. Both rowing and paddle boats are available.

Image courtesy :Google photos

During my visit there was no water in the lake and hence boats were lying idle.

The Rock Museum

Shantiniketan's Subroto Basu has fashioned a rock garden here by blending his own rock collections with the natural and picturesque rock formations found in the village. The natural formations stand unswayed in a scenic form in Rock Museum. This Rock Museum adds a fantastic ecological side to Shilparamam.
                       

The Recreational Area

Towards the entrance of Shilparamam there is a lush green lawn with beautiful landscaping surrounded by ethnic motifs and terracotta sculptures.

Shopping

Shilparamam has hundreds of stalls. There are wide range of handicrafts available for shopping, right from toys to carpets. Here visitors can buy hand made sarees and textiles of different states. Textiles ranging from Tangail, Sambhalpur, Paithni, Kashmiri to Kanjeevaram, Dharmavaram, Tanjavur, Madurai, Peddapuram, Bandar, Guntur and other sarees. It also has salwaar kamiz, ghagras, kurta, carpets, etc. Here a special Artisan Bazar is also there providing the original art forms directly from the makers.
                       

                      

                     

                       

                       

                       

Art Gallery

Shilparamam is the premier destination for art lovers as year through art exhibitions goes on. Every month one renowned name in the field of Arts will display their paintings in art gallery and the artist is honoured. This expo motivates the enthusiasts take up the art of painting and for those special training classes also provided in Shilparamam.

Information for Visitors

Visiting hours - 10:30 AM to 8:00 PM

Entry ticket fee - for Adults INR 40, for Children INR 20

Parking
Cellar Parking available
For 4 wheelers Rs 20 for first 3 hrs, Rs 10 per hr or part thereof.
For 2 wheelers Rs 10 for first 3 hrs, Rs 5 per hr or part thereof.

Sources : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilparamam

                http://www.shilparamam.net/index.php