Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, March 2: The first National Khadi Utsav saw thousands of visitors at the Khadi Board premises, where the festival is held, Monday, the fifth day of the fair. Products of Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam and couple of other states are attracting lots of visitors.
A Rajasthani stall owned by Lila Dhar is one of the major attractions of the fair. Lila Dhar from Jaipur who manufactures Rajasthani shoes, also known as Rajasthani mojari, said, “The response of the visitors is very good. People really are liking the mojari chappals and shoes. Especially the young and the college students, who want some change in style are purchasing my shoes. This is my first trip to Orissa and the response here has really enthralled me”.
“The Rajasthani mojari chappals and shoes are mostly made from camel skins. We manufacture it ourselves with the support of the Rajasthan government. This is my family business and I started doing this in 1984. We make all varieties of shoes, with unique Rajasthani design. The price ranges from Rs 200 to Rs 450”, he said.
A terracotta artist from Kolkata, Tarak Roy is also doing a brisk business with all his beautiful-looking wall hanging, paintings and bed lamps. Roy said, “For the last 25 years I have been making terracotta products. Ours is a bit different from other forms of terracotta products. For making wall paintings we first put the clay on a pre-designed mold and burn it and then we polish it. After that we start to draw and colour. The fine finishing and the modern look attracts the visitor. The price of all terracotta products ranges from Rs 50 to Rs 2000”.
Another stall selling the famous sitalpati mats and bags, and khadi bags with sitalpati work is also attracting many visitors. “People know about sitalpati and they are asking for many things which I didn’t even bring. Sitalpati is basically a kind of grass which we call patidoi. We make bags, mattress, wall hangings and other things from sitalpati. It is very popular in West Bengal, Assam and in other states of north – east India,” said Krishna Mohan Das from Goalpara, Assam.
“It is very cool and can be used as mat during summer as people mostly feel uncomfortable in other mattresses during summer season”, he said.
The food court at the Utsav is another spot of attraction for the visitors, where they are getting an opportunity to relish delicacies from Rajasthan and other states, at reasonable price.
