‘A Hundred Hands’ brings the Great Indian Crafts Bazaar – The Handmade Collective to Cochin for the first time. It is coming to David Hall, Fort Kochi to exhibit products made lovingly with the hands. This event will commence from 26^th January till 29^th January. A Hundred Hands is a non-profitable Bangalore based initiative behind the inception of The Handmade Collective. A Hundred Hands has 40 members right from the individual artistes to NGOs, who come from remote places in the hills to the coastal villages from states like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan along with many urban artistes. This organization aims in imparting a new look to the age old styles and give it a contemporary feel and effect and thereby sensitizing the customers towards the creativity of the artistes. The whole idea behind the effort is to bring back the whole concept of handmade and bringing back a slow, simple and sensitive way of life. This event will showcase all handmade silks materials, leather products, livelihood products, cotton products and many more and will also enlighten on the processes with which these products are made.

People don’t miss out this exclusive handmade exhibition if you really value arts.

Cochin is all set to stay clean and green from today. The ban on use and sale of plastic carry bags below 40 microns will come into existence from today. The civic authorities are planning to undertake a twin approach to eradicate the menace from the city. Plastic bags are extensively used throughout the city in the sale of vegetables, fish, meat and other day to day life materials. The same bags are reused for packing home wastes from kitchens and dumping it back in the public places. These waste dumped in plastic bags decomposes and causes water and air pollution. Even birds and animals eating such decomposed materials are affected by bacterial contamination. To crack down the sale and use and create awareness among the masses initiatives are taken.

The action squads will be pressed into action in east and west Cochin areas from Wednesday for checking the use of banned materials. This is a much required initiative to keep the city clean and tidy. Kudumbasree units will be supporting by the production and marketing of carry bags made of alternative materials like cloth and paper. The corporation of Cochin urges the kochiites to play an important and responsible role by supporting this campaign of ban on plastic bags.

For all you ladies out there !!!!

BTH, Diwan hall Road has organized the ” Rang Raaga”, an exhibition cum sale of ethnic Indian women’s wear on the 10th of November. Offering a wide variety of designs and materials to choose from, you will be spoilt  for  options. Sarees, Suits, Kurtis and much more on display,  the ladies are sure to have a fun time browsing and shopping for clothes.

Event: Rang Raaga by Rosemary

Venue: BTH, Opposite to Diwan Hall Road, kochi

Time: 10.30am onwards.

There is a Gujrat Handicrafts and Textile Exhibition being organized at the Woman’s Association hall.

For all the people who are patrons of Indian Handicrafts and art, this exhibition gives you an opportunity to see and collect handicrafts from the culturally rich state of Gujrat. And that is not all. Along with the handicrafts, there is a textile section, which will be of interests to all the ladies. So what are you whar are you guys waiting for. Just go ahead and collect a piece of Indian culture and let it increase the beauty of your home.

Event : The Gujrat Handicrafts and Textile Exhibition

Date : 1st to 6th November

Venue: Women’s Association Hall, Diwan Road, Kochi

Time:  All day.

Saree. An out fit that gets both men and women crazy. And when you get a variety of exquisite sarees from all across India under one roof, what more could the women of Kochi ask for.

And that is what Bharat Tourist Home ( aka BTH) has on offer. The Kalanjale sale organized by BTH will have sarees from all across India. From the maheswari cottons, kosa silks, uppada sicos& silks,kalamkari painted saris and much more.The salwar materials include cottons, cottons with nelgonda mirror work,organdis, supernets,  jutes, chanderis, assorted silks and much more.

The saris of Madhya Pradesh, primary among them are Maheswari,Tussar &Cotton coveted and sought by almost all women of India and abroad.The story of the Maheswari sari is as romantic as the sari itself. When you are wearing a Maheswari material – a sari you are wearing history. The uppadas are the saris from Andhra Pradesh.The combinations are really mesmerizing.These saris are light weight and easy to drape.The Uppada saris are in silk-cottons (sicos) &silks.These can be worn for festive occassions too. Kalmkari is an ancient art that originated fom 3000 years ago.It derives its name from kalam meaning pen, and  kari meaning work,literally pen-work..There is a tempting collection of kalamkari saris and blouse pieces on display here.

So all you wives out there, here is an exclusive shopping opportunity you wouldn’t want to miss. And husbands, just a word of caution. Be prepared to feel a bit LIGHTER !!!!!

Event: Kalanjale Saree exhibition-cum-sale

Venue: BTH Auditorium, Opp Durbar hall

Date : November 1st and 2nd

Time: 9.30am onwards

With Diwali getting closer, all the malls and major shops across Kochi are wooing the crowd with excellent offers across the town. Let that be the Mega Mart stores which are coming up with their BUY 3 GET 4 offer or all the brands in Oberon Mall which have giving excellent discounts for this festive season. The shop keepers dont want to leave it to chance to increase the sales and what better opportunity for us Kochiites to grab our bags and rush to the nearest mall or market place and shop this festive season. Among the major discounts/sales happening in town we have Graffitti Clothing having BUY 2 GET 1free on all the saree range and BUY 2 GET 3 Free on all the shirts. Also you have a lot many free gifts on offer on a variety of purchases. Classic Polo showroom offering upto 50%  off on purchases.

Toonz clothing again giving up 50% off on kids clothing. For those who want to go jewel shopping, Tanishq jewellers are offering a 24k gold plated lamp on every purchase this Diwali. And jus not for you and your family, @home, one of the major home interior showrooms in Cochin is offering upto 20% cash back on purchases and Gem Home decor are offering upto 50% discounts on home intewrior products. So  Kochi, what are you waiting for, and make the shopping this festive season a delightful experience.

Readers can notify about any offers/discounts at stores in the comments section.

Cochin will soon witness a two day family shopping expo, which will display and sell an outstanding array of aesthetics and functional products and unique services. This event is being organized by the Rotary Club of Cochin in association with The New Indian Express and is managed by the Indian Trade Fair foundation. This expo will showcase 30 stalls exhibiting a wide range of articles and services that will be dedicated to families. This event will cater consumer goods, elegant watches and clocks, classic bags and travel goods, trendy cell-phones and accessories, fitness equipments, automotive products, IT products, jewellery, cosmetics and many more.

Also at this event an inter nursery kids contest will be organized, so that the kids (below six years) can show their talents and skills. This expo is an ideal venue for meeting people and interacting with them in an ambience that spells nothing but class.

The details of this event are:

Venue: Ramavarma Club, Cochin

Date: 15^th and 16^th October.

For more details regarding this event:

Contact: 9846049836, 9446529836

Email: gopakumar012@gmail.com

The Orissa Crafts Utsav – Exhibition cum Sale is here at Kochi. As we all know that Orissa treasures an opulent artistic heritage that has specimens from temple architecture as well as the edifices. Skilful artists and craftsmen of Orissa still maintain their native art by continuously processing it to adapt to a changing taste. The hereditary skills of artists has bequeathed traditional orissan arts and crafts like weaving of ikat, bomkai, sambalpuri sari, stone carving, appliqué, embroidery, silver filigree work, palm leaf incised design, metal work, lacquered craftsmanship and many more have acquired a unique place in the world and now these amazing form of arts and crafts will be showcased in our very own Kochi.

This event can really turn into an awesome opportunity for the arts and crafts enthusiast to explore and gather more information in their fields of interest. So guys come out and check this out. The details of this event are:

Venue: Women’s Association Hall, Diwan’s Road, Kochi.

Date: 27^th September to 8^th October.

Time: 10am onwards daily.

The women’s wing of the Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Ernakulam Unit is organizing an exhibition-cum-sale of clay dolls meant for the ‘Bommai Kolu’ as a precursor for the upcoming Navarathri. This exhibition showcases clay dolls of various deities meant for traditional ‘Bommai Kolu’ displays which accompany Navarathri celebrations at Brahmin houses. Apart from the traditional clay dolls of deities, other clay and Plaster-Of –Paris sculptures and decorative figurines are also showcased and sold. These dolls and figurines are brought from Bunrotti, Velacheri and Madurai in Tamil Nadu. This year, the exhibition contains more than 270 varieties of clay dolls and figurines worth a total of Rs 3 lakhs.

The details of this exhibition are:

Venue: Gramajana Samooham Hall, Ernakulam Temple Premises, Kochi.

Date: This exhibition is open for a fortnight (begun from Monday; 19^th September).

Time: 3pm to 8 pm.

The Business India Group unveils its annual offering the Inside Outside Mega Show (IOMS) here at our very own Kochi. A complete show on interior design, furniture and furnishing as well as building materials.  This year they will showcase new, significant, relevant and interesting  products in the market while upholding the traditional values of providing business opportunities.

The IOMS has grown from 25 booth units in 1988 to more than 800 booth units at the present and it is used extensively as a launch-pad for the new products. IOMS highlights exhibitor products thereby influencing future trends and hence creating demand for the showcased product. Being the first in India to introduce the concept of having everything in interiors and exteriors under one roof and also creating a benchmark for futuristic approaches, the IOMS breathes excellence.

The details of this mega event are:

Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kaloor, Kochi.

Date: 17^th November to 20^th November.

Time: 10 am onwards.