Pondy is every shopaholic’s dream come true. You can buy a multitude of items from the shops strewn across the city. Sales Tax is low here and compared with affordable prices makes shopping a delightful affair. Primarily the shops in Puducherry are located in Mahatma Gandhi Street, Anna Salai, Cathedral Street, Nehru Street, and Rue Romain Rolland. During Deepavali when there is festive mood all around there is a Deepavali Bazaar at Anna Tidal. There is also a shopping festival held every year around December-January to cash on the tourist inflow.
For shopping you could turn to the shopping malls, Khadi and Village Industries Board outlets, Aurobindo Ashram run shops and scores of other big and small shops. On Sundays, many of the roads are closed for traffics and the roadsides become huge bazaars. A variety of items at affordable prices can be shopped from here. The only problem is that you have to jostle with the bustling crowds. As most of the times, villagers from the nearby places arrive here in droves for shopping.
Items to look for
Pondicherry offers a lot of knickknacks and other decorative items that can be bought cheap. The following are some of the products.
Handcrafted items: Bedcovers, Stoles, table mats, Handmade paper jewelry, etc, all typically hand-made. You can try Boutique Auroville and Kalki for some great stuff.
Incense and aromatic stuff: You can buy a lot of stuff like herbs, candles, incense sticks, mosquito and insect repellents, etc. You can get a good variety of these items from shops run by the Aurobindo Ashram near Rue de Mannakula vinegar. (Rue means street in French)
Fabrics: In Pondy, you get a good range of fabrics at affordable prices. Khadi fabrics, twill, satin, corduroy, chambray, poplin, oxford are all available. The legendary Anglo-French mills are known for their range of crinkle-free printed cotton and they give discounts too. Fab India, Casablanca, and Titanic are good stores. Also, check out for a good range of export-surplus clothes from Tirupur. Here you can have high-fashion clothes at unbelievably low prices.
Leather products and accessories: You get top-notch leather products and accessories here. The leather products of Pondy are highly acclaimed for their quality, finish, and designs. Hidesign offers its products which are slightly cheaper as compared to other cities.
Ashram Products (from the Ashram): Aurobindo Ashram offers quite a few products like Books being published by SABDA. You can buy books written by and about Sri Aurobindo and Mother of Pondicherry. Besides this, you get a lot of eatables, Ayurvedic soaps, toothpaste, lotions, balms, hair care products, etc. You are helping many self-help groups if you buy these products.
Pottery and Ceramic pieces: Pottery and ceramic pieces created by the local artisans of Pondicherry are something that you can’t just ignore. They can be found all over Pondicherry as well as Auroville. The pottery and ceramic artifacts are manufactured with certain varieties of clay and glazes in kilns that are environment-friendly. Check out for the "Golden Bridge" and "Rhinestone Art" range available at Casablanca among others.
Miscellaneous Items: For the movie buffs you can get the latest Movie DVDs (pirated of course) very cheap. It costs something around Rs.30.
Kiomoi Tip: Please remember that between 1 and 3 pm. The city almost closes down for afternoon siesta.
Kiomoi recommend the following stores to look out for in Pondicherry
Casablanca: 165, Mission St.
Fab India: 59, Suffren St.
Nilgiris: Mission St
L’art Naturel: 52, Canteen St,
Hidesign: 31, J.N St,
Boutique Auroshree: 18, Nehru Street,
Cohinoor: 54C, Ambour Salai,
Kalki: 134, Mission St,
La Boutique d` Auroville: 38, Nehru St,
Little Shop: 21, Rue de la Compagnie,
Splendour: 6, Goubert Avenue,
Nirvana 53, Suffren St,
Wonders: Mission Street, Shalimar
Gift Shop: Nehru Street
Archies: Mission Street
Hallmark: Needarajaper Street
