One of the great ways to experience this culture besides the food and religion is by immersing yourself in its art. Shrikant has Sundays off from work (yes, the work week here is 6 days!), so we decided to take a trip out to the Shilparamam Art Market. This is a huge market that is open year round and features art and handicrafts from artists all over India and the region. We are excited to see what kinds of things we might start collecting to bring home.
There were many stalls full of outstandingly beautiful textiles, clothing, pottery, jewelry, religious art, toys, floral creations, furniture, etc. Shrinkant & Charanya took on the task of bartering for us and giving us an idea how much things should be worth. Knowledge we will certainly use in the future when we are out traveling on our own. Here are some photos of our shopping spree:
Rowan getting ready to barter for some textiles
Jenni & Shrikant in a sea of clay figures
The puppet theatre
These pots are as tall as Jenni
The market also has a big open-air theatre where they put on musical shows. Tonight they were having one that told a story about some Hindu gods.
