E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, MAR 24 -

If you are into handicraft products for practical and decorative purposes, you may want to check out Mahaguthi store at Kupandole, Lalitpur and Lazimpat, Kathmandu. The store stocks handmade goods like cards made of lokta, apparels, statues, pashmina products, silk, cotton and bamboo shawls, allo fabric, wooden crafts and furniture, among various others.

Ceramic products like mugs, plates and salad bowls, paper products like notebooks, photo frames, albums and gift boxes, cushions, floor mats and statues make up the diverse inventory. Likewise, you can find a number of handicraft products made exclusively in certain parts of Nepal. Ceramics from Dang and Thimi, dhaka from Dhankuta, allo from Sankhuwasabha, Mithila paintings from Janakpur, lokta paper from Jiri and metal crafts with wooden carvings from Patan.

“We feature handicraft items that are affordable to a wide range of incomes and useful for kids to grownups,” said Samir Chhetri, sales officer of Mahaguthi store at Kupandole. There are products such as key rings priced at Rs 40 to a pair of wheels that cost Rs 53,000. Likewise, apparels at the store cost between Rs 450 to Rs 1,000 depending on the materials used.

“Our main objective is to promote handicraft products and individual or group producers to uplift their economic condition. Therefore, we feature local handicraft products at reasonable prices,” added Chhetri. According to him, 60 percent of their customers are Nepalis and foreigners residing in Nepal and the rest are tourists.

Mahaguthi is a social organization. The store donates 60 percent of its total earnings to Tulsi Mehar Mahila Ashram set up by Tulsi Mehar Shrestha. During the Rana regime, Shrestha was living in exile in India and had become involved in Mahatma Gandhi’s Charkha revolution. Inspired by Gandhi, Shrestha worked for deprived women, widows and people from the so-called lower castes after returning to Nepal. He also started the Charkha revolution in Nepal and opened the Ashram for widows. To generate funds for

the Ashram, Shrestha opened Mahaguthi, initially selling products made by the deprived women and widows residing in the shelter. Later, Mahaguthi started featuring other local products too.

Mahaguthi is a member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). There are only 16 members of WFTO in Nepal. “Being a member of WFTO, we trade fairly. It is a fixed priced store,” said Chhetri. “Even prices of products made of precious metals like gold and silver are fixed, and they do not change whatever happens to the market prices.”

All the products at the store are made by around 60 deprived women and widows residing at the Ashram and craftsmen from various parts of the country. Mahaguthi also contains products made by leprosy patients.

Posted on: 2011-03-24 08:53

Post Your Comment

Please note that all the fields marked * are mandatory.
* Full Name
* Address
* Email Address
* Comment
* Captcha	Get another CAPTCHA code
Note:	Comments containing abusive words or slander shall not be published.