Glimpses of mini India at Crafts Bazaar in Hoshiarpur

A gazebo of colourful streams of clothes right at the entrance makes everyone feel that they are entering into an exciting zone. Designer umbrellas put up across various corners add to the hues, which ultimately lead to a must stopover – ‘I love Hoshiarpur’ selfie point. As one enters in, the performance on the stage of a Been Jogi group, donning Bhavli attire like that of snake charmers, entices the visitors. On the other side of the ground, a group of young acrobats are seen performing daredevil feats – doing somersaults and jumping up high.

However, the main attraction, especially for the women and children, is the 70-plus stalls of unique items. Assam’s masala tea, green tea and bamboo items, Dokra tribal jewellery from West Bengal, miniature paintings from Rajasthan, embroidered sceneries from Chamba, jewellery boxes, runners, purses and stuff made of Madurkathi (woven reed) from West Midnapore, coloured pen drawings from Madhya Pradesh, walnut handicrafts from Himachal Pradesh and Saharanpur’s carved furniture — all are available under one roof.

The host state does not lag behind. The very own Punjabi jutti and phulkari from Patiala, inlay work of Hoshiarpur, charpoys, furniture typical of Punjab, too, are all put up on display. Cast iron figurines, glass bead jewellery, tie-and-dye dupatta suits, carpets and rugs also remain a major attraction for the shopping freaks. Kids have a special ride zone with merry-go-rounds, Columbus and other big rides. Stalls of fast food remain a delight for all visitors.

The event, which started on March 20, will continue till March 29 had the biggest stage performance on Thursday evening when ace singer Satinder Sartaj regaled everyone. DC Apneet Riyait and ADC (UD) Himanshu Jain said: “Folk dances and folk music are organised twice a day daily. Troupes from Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal, J&K, Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha, Assam, Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Rajasthan have been all performing here. Besides, nachaars, baazigars, nagada and Malwai giddha, too, are crowd-pullers.”