<< More about Kerala

Shopping in Kerala makes for a delightful experience. The land is traditionally rich in handicrafts. The skilled hands of the artisans of Kerala have crafted out a wide variety of objects de art that find a buy among the tourists, especially foreigners.

Owing to the abundance of forests and coconut groves in Kerala, wood, jute, coir and coconut shell traditionally remain the base of such handicrafts. A whole range of souvenirs, curios, furniture and trinkets are made from these. Artifacts made of teak, deep-wine rosewood and fragrant sandalwood as well as buffalo horn are popular items sought among the shoppers and tourists in Kerala.

There are a large number of private shops and government emporia scattered all over the state that serve as shoppers’ paradise. Some of the popular tourist shopping products in Kerala are miniature elephant paraphernalia, coconut shell craft, coir items, woodsculptures, metalware, ‘aranmula kannadi’, metal-inlaid woodcraft, horn carvings, bamboo/jute/ mat paintings and kathakali masks. Utility items include tea, coffee and spices like black pepper, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger etc. Kerala sarees with gold border are also desired as gift items.