48 Best Places to Shop in Rajasthan, India

Less a shopping experience (the prices are high and so is the quality) and more a Jaipur experience, head here to see the kind of jewelry the city is known for. The showroom, in a phantasmagoric petal-shape modern mahal, has an enormous collection, including high-end pieces. It's considered one of the city’s best addresses. The kundan jewelry is of particular interest.

For inexpensive textiles, including cotton dress fabric, plastic and glass bangles, and other handicrafts, check out this four-story emporium, where these items are hidden among the rows of discounted toasters and kitschy house decorations. It's fixed price (as opposed to haggling), caters to a local crowd, and is an easier experience than going from shop to shop where everyone is pressuring you to buy something.

The blue pottery here is particularly funky—the designer, owner Leela Bordia, has been at the forefront of the movement to keep the craft alive for more than three decades and has exhibited all over the world. Her wares are made in nearby villages, helping to create jobs in rural areas.

Established in 1880 and still selling the finest hand-engraved, enameled, and embossed brassware—including oversize old trays, lamps, and historic armor—this is a great place to look for antique metalwork.

Housed within the City Palace, this pretty pastel-walled store retails a collection of contemporary apparel, accessories, and homeware made by local women trained by the Princess Diya Kumari Foundation. The products showcase traditional Rajasthani crafts like block printing, hand embroidery, patch work, and gota patti (appliqué technique of zari—gold or silver thread—on fabric).

Drop by this eclectic store for a range of hand block-printed home decor like bedsheets, quilts, and cushion covers as well as finely crafted bath towels and super-soft dohar (lightweight summer blanket). They also have a small collection of apparel.

If you have limited time and lots of gifts to buy or don't relish bargaining, head to this enormous, government-run emporium in the center of Jaipur. It overflows with crafts and textiles, including wooden pieces, puppets, jewelry, blue pottery, and scarves, though you might have to sift through a bewildering variety before you find what you want. Open from 11 am to 8 pm.

Be aware that sly salesmen and rickshaw drivers may try to take you to fake Rajasthali showrooms, which are privately run under the same name and charge exorbitant prices.

If your time is limited, head straight to the area around the Jagdish Temple, where you'll find an array of shops stocking an almost overwhelming variety of leather-bound journals, deity statues, and knickknacks; if bargaining isn't your thing, though, head to an emporium instead. The government-run Rajasthali emporium (there's also a larger branch in Jaipur) sells high-quality Rajasthani arts and handicrafts, and is a good place to pick up a wool-stuffed washable quilt with a Rajasthani motif. The showroom near Jagdish temple is a bit run-down and looks dusty, but the prices here are fixed.

Buy your beautifully, painstakingly woven dhurrie from the man who made it at Salawas village (about 30 minutes outside Jodhpur). At this peaceful, pretty, and fairly remote hamlet of thatched homes there is a huge selection and you can see, step by step, how these colorful rugs are made. It is a memorable experience to witness this dying art—younger generations are not investing in the business. You can pay by credit card and then have it shipped by the store to your home.

One of the oldest NGOs in India, working for the advancement of the village poor, Sadhna works with rural women in the Udaipur district and trains them to produce traditional appliqué work on cushion covers, bedspreads, silk stoles, bags, kurtas, light quilts, and jackets. Sadhna has gained popularity over the years, and the women also tour around the country to exhibitions in major cities during festivals. There's another branch near the Jagdish Temple in the Old City.

Catering to the affluent and a design-loving tourist crowd, Soma is filled with vibrant colors. Here you'll find sustainably sourced (and extra-soft cotton) clothing for women and children, and decorative fabrics, including hand-painted white cloth lamp shades, as well as authentic block-printed goods for the home. One caveat: designs haven't been updated much in the last few years; if you shopped here on your last trip, you'll likely find the same items today.

While you're in the Jagdish Temple area, make sure you check out the collection of more than 500 handmade wooden puppets in varying shapes and sizes at this small shop. Ask the folk artist proprietor, Rajesh Gurjargour, an excellent puppeteer, for a private demonstration. Miniature paintings, embroidered jackets, handcrafted soft toys, and knickknacks are also for sale.

For exquisite but expensive formal wear, including lavish saris, embellished with zari (silver filigree embroidery), head here. The kurtis (short tunics) are also special.

Come here for gorgeous traditional and contemporary silver and gold jewelry.

Wood items are designed according to customer requirements, while maintaining the roots of the artisans' creative process. Antiques are also sold.

This showroom, attached to the workshop where patchwork quilts and bedcovers are produced, has an exquisite range of textile and soft furnishings, tablecloths, bedcovers, applique work, and shawls. They also have a shop in town at Budhiya Kothi in Rai ka Bagh, but here, a short distance out of town, you can see how it happens.

Worth a stop for classic and contemporary textiles and home furnishings.