Shopping at Kanjivaram

Families, for long have had the tradition of buying wedding sarees from Kanchipuram. With all the new, glitzy shops in Chennai many families still travel to Kanchi, for not only they associate Kanchi with good silk, but also auspicious to buy there in the presence of Kamakshi – not many would skip worshipping the Devi, to seek her blessings after the sarees are bought. I remember in my childhood accompanying my paatti to Kanchipuram on few such occasion. Bharati bus ride from Arakkonam, and then a jatka or Ameer bus from Gangana mandapam to Adisanpettai. It was standard, Lakshmi Vilas – there was a bit of confusion there were a few Lakshmi named shops one after another. Paatti cleared her confusion with the one she wanted, standing Lakshmi logo was her shop. It was never crowded like it is these days. Those Lakshmi shops have also been gone for long, though some old names like Pachaiappas, or Anna Co-op are all there. I had not shopped in Kanchi from then till a few years ago when I discovered the award winning Kanchi weaver in Mumbai’s Paramparik Karigar. I used to go sometime to his house to buy, whenever I was town. Two years ago a new showroom VaraMahalakshmi opened. It was quite inviting, very tastefully done interiors and had an old world appeal. But, the collection in cotton was not that great, and I wasn’t looking at the silk section. Bought the blue cotton with temple border there – the second silk cotton kind of a pink was bought when I was shopping for some gifts. Would I go there again, not sure. The familiarity and charm of the Lakshmi Vilases I definitely miss.