Noida haat- a vibrant display of Indian craftsmanship

From Kashmiri pashmina to southern silk, Noida Haat is a small ode to the rich cultural diversity of India. It is organised every year by the Noida authority. This year it started on February 04, 2022, and will go on till February 21, 2022. The Noida haat is a one stop destination to shop for exquisite traditional crafts from all states of India. You will find here dress material, home furnishings, chunky jewellery, cutlery and much more.

Noida Shilp Haat and bunker Bhawan is an iconic building spread over an area of 10 acres at the prime location of Noida. It has 3 story building + 146 shops and a large food court, an amphitheatre with a large capacity, an emporium, a culture Centre, museum, office space, and Huge space for car parking with other public utility services. It has been designed to act as a Hunar hub in Noida to encourage artisans from all over the country and promote their products so that they could sell directly to the buyers.

Rajkumar Kashyap, the organiser of this event says, “We know the taste of Noida. That is why we keep coming up with such handloom and handicraft festivals with different names. The biggest lure just now is that Covid cases have gone below 1000 and this has resulted in a good footfall."

Rajkumar Paswan is an award-winning artist from Bihar who has come to display his Madhubani paintings at Noida Haat. With 45 years of experience in his craft, he explains, “These paintings were traditionally done on freshly plastered mud walls and floors of huts, but now they are also done on cloth handmade paper and canvas. Madhubani paintings are made from the paste of powdered rice.” His paintings depict people and their association with nature and scenes and deities from the ancient epics. Every colour used in his paintings is natural. For yellow, they use turmeric, they use hibiscus flower for red, kair berries for the orange colour.

Mohsin khan is seen selling an affordable range through beautiful and unique designs of cushions covers. He has cushions in silk to cotton and velvet material in several sizes.

Local vendors from Kashmir have come here with the complete stock of traditional Kashmiri attire. They have a great collection of "Cotton Kani" which are Kashmiri suits of light fabric suitable for summers. They also have a fascinating collection of woollens and winterwear. The price range in woollen starts from 1000 – 16000 and for cotton Kani, it starts from 1500 – 6000.

Arman Malik says, “our traditional kurta and salwar for men which we call as khan dress is in high demand. We also have a good variety of women's pashmina shawl, salwar kameez and unique headscarf.”

Many ladies were seen shopping at Rajasthani Sanganer print outfits at Noida haat. One can also find unique jewellery at the haat. Mohamad Firoz says, “Ivory jewellery feels as the carving and designs were unique and very realistic. This is a kind of marble jewellery, not marble though. It looks like costly ivory jewellery. It is getting famous among all the age groups”.

One can also have a beautiful collection of porcelain pots and plates. SK Mishra while buying crockery at the Noida haat says, "This is an amazing place to buy beautiful things. Although no they are a little costly, our craftsmen work very hard. It is a must-visit place if you love decorative items and potteries. It's a creative world of creative people. Must visit to have a look of craftsmanship.”

Tanya, a resident of Noida while shopping with her family says, “It is an amazing place to buy beautiful decorative items. I am a fan of crockeries and want to buy a lot of them, but the prices are too high. You must know the art of bargaining before you step in because many things are overpriced.”, says Tanya.

Besides handicrafts, one can also find unique spices and dry fruits at the haat. Deepa Bhatiya, a well-known name in Saheli Gramudhyog, a centre that promotes small scale products, has been coming to this haat from many years. She says, “People are fond of the special masalas we prepare. Our chat masala, kachori masala, bajra khichdi, chai masala, papad, aloo chips are very popular."

Diminishing borders, Atiq Karmi has come here from Kabul to sell his almonds. He has brought 8 types of almonds for you- Small, big, and very big. Atiq Karmi says, “Afghanistan is a prime supplier of dry fruits and we keep all kinds of dry fruits like apricots figs, 8 types of almonds like mamra, gurbandi, sattari almonds, qambase badam, pistachio nuts, walnuts, pine nuts and two kinds of raisins- one greenish one and black one”.

They are also selling walnut oil, shilajit in liquid form, afghani shahi jeera, cherry murabba, kalmi dates, saffron etc.