Among typical Bengali handicrafts are metal dokra items from Shantiniketan, as well as the long-necked, pointy-eared terracotta horses from Bankura.. Kantha fabrics with their delicate line stitching in decorative patterns, leather purses, wallets and accessories, as well as jute bags, photoframes and other items, should get you started on your shopping spree!

State Emporia

Many of the state emporia are located in the large Dakhshinapan shopping complex south of Dhakuria Bridge near Gol Park. State emporia from Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Nagaland, etc, selling ethnic regional clothes, accessories, furnishings. With its food courts and theatre nearby, Dakshinapan invites to to linger.

 Other shopping:

Aavishkar
20K Park St.
Popular shop on the corner with Middleton Row, stocking stationery and cards, music, pottery by local artists, and garden-fresh Darjeeling and Assam teas.

Bengal Home Industries
57 J Nehru Rd (just around the corner on AJC Bose Rd.)
Very strong on furnishings and fabrics, plus Bengali handicrafts including terracotta.

Central Cottage Industries
7 J Nehru Rd, Esplanade.
Part of the national chain, selling handicrafts from all over India. Along with fabrics, leather, papier-mâché from Kashmir and furnishings, there is a small but interesting collection of silver jewellery, with some tribal bracelets.

Saroj
3A Camac St, near Middleton Row.
Serious collectors' shop, with an interesting mixture of antique furniture and objets d'art, old prints, good reproductions and jewellery.

Terra-Cottal
158/2A Prince Anwar Shah Rd.
Gallery and boutique near the lakes in south Calcutta specializing in everything terracotta, from jewellery to sculpted panels and tiles. Expensive.

Cheong Seong
Chittaranjan Ave. One of the few Chinese shoe shops that still makes shoes to order. The place to come if you yearn for a pair of imitation cowboy boots.

Good Companions
13C Russell St. Upmarket fabric and clothes shop just off Park St.

Karma Kutir
32 Ballygunge Place. A good place to pick up traditional decorative kantha work.

Kolhapuri Centre
Gariahat Rd, Ballygunge Phari.
Dedicated to selling Kolhapuri sandals and shoes;
there's another branch on College St.

Nari Seva Sangh
Jodhpur Park. A women's cooperative that specializes in kantha embroidery.