Home decoration and garden stores Himalaya

You can't miss this huge state emporium set in a high tower. Inside, six floors well stocked with handicrafts from the country: sandalwood statuettes, glittering emeralds, hammered coffee tables, Assam tea, traditional dresses, etc. We recommend the fabric floor: an infinite variety of materials (silk, cotton, wool) at reasonable prices. It's more expensive than elsewhere, but we guarantee the origin and authenticity.

Habib's family specializes in pashmina, those Himalayan goat wool stoles... but not only. In this small store, you will find everything you need to please your loved ones: stoles, shawls, carpets, paper mache objects, leather clothes... As everywhere else, haggle over the prices and you should leave with your arms full. Habib or his son Yassin can even pick you up at your hotel. A simple phone call is enough, of course, you are not obliged to buy!

The palace of light: from the lamp to the retro lamp through the candlestick, we find all the periods and all the styles. Prized by antique dealers who come to find rare pieces, the market is punctuated by old stalls installed there since 1950. Some of their occupants (no longer young) will gladly tell you anecdotes about the district of Old Delhi that they have seen evolve. During Diwali (the festival of lights), Eid or Christmas, put on sunglasses because the place is even more dazzling!

The shops selling singing bowls are numerous in Thamel but this one seduced us for its particularly well finished objects. The singing bowls are related to the pre-Buddhist animist shamanist Bön culture of the Himalayas, hence their name "Tibetan bowls". The sounds emitted by these bowls would indeed have relaxing properties supposed to destroy negative thoughts and would make it possible to put our chakras back in the right alignment. We'll let you try...

Originally from the Mithila region of Bihar State, the women of Mithila traditionally decorate the walls of their houses with motifs at weddings and other ceremonies. Mithila painting as a contemporary art form was born in the early 1960s, following the terrible famine in Bihar. For those who would not be lucky enough to travel to the Terai to enjoy mithila art, the shop displays a wide range of traditionally painted objects. The paintings, naive and colorful, are affixed on all kinds of objects: mirrors, boxes..