Kalanjali – Treasure House of Art and Handicrafts

India is rated as among the most ancient of countries whose existence has been there since the evolution of life itself. Even before coining of the word ‘India’, the land has existed and will exist to the twilight of life itself. This is not just empty rhetoric but hard facts. Have a peep into ancient tales; they speak of a culture, tradition and values that are in tune with a spirit of India ness. It just gels with the thinking of our seers and sages who spoke of one universal spirit, which encompasses all of us. India has been home to so many diverse aspects of nature as well as life such as art, handicrafts, music, and so on, that it is a veritable ocean of many in one. With passage of time, all of these have withstood the onslaught of alien offerings with aplomb. However the same cannot be said of the maintenance aspect. But there have been some entities that have strived to nourish and popularise them and one among them is kalanjali.

This elegant and gracious entity comes from the prestigious house of Eenadu -Margadarsi Group and has its roots in Andhra Pradesh. Its owner is one of the city’s most well known names Mr Ramoji Rao who is regarded as a man with the golden touch. He had a vision of projecting the glory of Indian art and handicrafts and did the same with success in the form of Kalanjali. This marvel of a showroom residing in one of the city’s most elegant localities and housed in one of the most spick set up is a perfect ace. It is a veritable treat house of viewing – a collection of the best of art and handicrafts; it is a tribute to art and brings out the real beauty of India to the outside world. Let’s have a thorough glance into this most magnificent of city’s landmarks.

History and Growth

It was born in November 1992. The rich and diverse art and handicrafts offerings are put up in an imposing four-storied building decked up in chocolate brown colour. It was set up with the sole motive to expose the wide and latent talents of the artisans and their products to the world. It seeks to project the colourful Indian tradition, culture and history in proper perspective to the connoisseurs of culture, art and handicrafts. In addition to this it sees for itself as a platform to showcase the high-class skills of the Indian artisans in the field of art and handicrafts. It can be said that the aim and vision with which it sought to play has been quite successful and it looks further ahead with confidence.

A peep into the backyard of Indian way of life and ongoing progress has been high on Kalanjali’s agenda and it finds the same a fascinating one. The deep, vast, rich and exotic riot of colours makes the same even more fascinating. Traditions and culture, centuries old, are fine-tuned and projected in the way they should be. One can find the best of arts and crafts like exquisite pottery, metal ware, woodcraft, paintings, textiles and other such ilk in this marvel of a showroom. The complete and most exclusive collection of the nation’s art and crafts is here.

Thus a walk into Kalanjali showroom is a walk into one of the most spectacular and enriching display of one of the most exciting civilisations in the world. Forget the experience; it is something much more; it is a visual exposure of the greatness of India.

The showroom, stores and administrative space mops up 32,000 square feet and the total employee strength of Kalanjali is around 140 in number.

Products

The range of products goes very wide, and touches upon every aspect of the different regions of India in its depth and variety. The products are of top quality, and swing from rates as low as Rs 2/- to Rs 8,00,00/- and then there are some, which are worth a million. Here we go-

Handicrafts

Wood wares: Wood carved figures Wood carved panels, Wood inlay furniture’s, Lacquer items, Lacquer and wood toys, wood painted figures, sandal wood, wood furniture’s, other wood wares and wood inlay panels.

Art Metal Ware: Brass Dokras, Brass Enamel, Bidri, Brass Lamps, Metal Icons Castings, Brass Emboss, Metal Combination Items, White Metal and Other Art Metal Ware.

Paintings: Kalamkari Paintings, Nirmal Paintings, Pattachitra of Orissa, Rajasthani Paintings, Mughal Paintings, Cherial Scrol Paintings and Tanjore Paintings.

Jewellery: Artistic Silver, Lac Jewellery and Silver Filigree

Pottery and Ceramics: Stone Pottery

Leather: Hard Leather, Leather Puppets and Printed Leather

Stone Wares: Stone Garara and Gaya, Semi-Precious Marble Inlay, Stone Carving Items; Stone Carved Figures and Other Stone Wares.

Paper and Paper Products: Greeting Cards and Paper Machik

Miscellaneous: Carpets, Durries Jute, Durries Cottons, Agarbathi and Incense Perfume

Textiles

Saris, Yardage, Textile Accessories, Kids Garments, Ladies Garments, Unstitched Material and Gents Garments

The best of handicrafts and Handlooms are here, in intricate and innovative designs, sizes and shapes. The showroom plans to market in the near future an exclusive range of the same to bulk importers and chain stores.

Services

Kalanjali caters to every kind of sale service and does so in a professional manner. It offers counter sales where deliveries are made immediately plus deliveries of chosen items to NRIs and foreigners as per their directives. In the case of export sales, the period for delivery ranges between 2 weeks and 3 months and this also depends upon the mode of transportation opted for. The transportation formalities are subject to clearance from customs and other related departments of the Government of India.

Where the items are out of stock, then the deliveries take anything between 5 to 6 months. The details of the same are intimated much in advance to the customers and items delivered only after their approval.

The chore of shopping is slick, reliable and fast, a customer can place his or her order from any part of the world. It accepts all Indian and International Credit/ Debit Cards in addition to other modes of payments.

Shopping at Kalanjali is a worthwhile experience; a wide and vast range of artefacts is there for the asking. They make for ideal corporate gifts, and just suitable for every other kind of occasions and festivals. The gifts bear the stamp of high quality and perfect touch up and enliven the person to whom it is given.

Other Details

The group of Eenadu-Margadasi is well into the areas of publishing, film production, film studios (world famous Ramoji Film City belongs to this group), satellite television, packaged foods, financial services and handlooms.

Address

5-10-194, Hill Fort Road, Saifabad, Hyderabad – 500004 Telephones: 3231147, 3297196, 3297197, 6665308 (Direct No) Fax: 91-40-3233204 E-Mail: kalanjaliarts@rediffmail.com

Registered Office

Eenadu Complex, Somajiguda, Hyderabad-500082

Kalanjali currently has a beta version of its web site called e-kalanjali.com and the same will be launched very shortly with E-Commerce.

The greatness of India’s arts and crafts blended with modern trappings is showcased in this neat, elegant and tastefully decorated set-up located in one of the city’s most sophisticated and safe zones. An enriching and artistic experience, this Kalanjali is.