Buying Knives and other sharp n shiny objects in Rajasthan.

[Moin.]

On a weeks vacation in Rajasthan, In Ajmer for 2 days, Udaipur, Jaipur and finaLly to Delhi and back home to amchi Mumbai.

Saw road side vendor selling swords openly along with A lot of Chinese fancy knives. I picked up a small 4 inch Kukri which really impressed me with the fit and finish. The blades's actually hollow ground and cost me the price of two packets of cigarettes. The ricikshaw driver has advised that there's a huge market of these in Pushkar, so that's where I'm headed tomorrow.

What has really caught my fancy are these faux damascus steek knives being sold in Udaipur and Jaipur. I wanty to pick up a few nice ornamental ones just for their display and aesthetic value.

Any recommendations in buying these from Udaipur or Jaipur. I've seen some exquiste Pesh
kabz's and Khanjars with this silver and gold koftagiri inlay work and damascus blades. These are some of the stores seeling these advertised on the internet.

Company Name:
Fine Damascus Knives
Mr. Sandeep Singh Chauhan
58, Amar Nagar, O. T. C. B Block, Sajjangadh Road ,
Udaipur, Rajasthan - 313 001 (India)

Prince Craft Works
Year of Establishment: 2005
Mr. Harish Parihar (CEO)
No. 42, Pratap Marg, Swaroop Sagar Lake
Udaipur, Rajasthan, India - 313 004
Mobile / Cell Phone: +(91)-9001795176

Ram Damascus Steel Handicrft Exproter
Mr. Nirbhay Parihar (Manager)
No. 80 Feet Road,
Udaipur, Rajasthan, India - 313001
Telephone: +(+91)-(294)-2430469
Mobile / Cell Phone: +(+91)-9352531230 / 9649508124
Thanks in advance for your kind advice.

Best Regards
Moin.

[Bruno22]

Like Pooh to the Honey Pot...enjoy your vacation!
Bruno22

[Moin.]

Thank You Bruno

Second day in Rajasthan visited Pushkar. Rows and rows of shops selling swords, katars etc. The markets flooded with El Cheapo Chinese Knives. What a big disappointment. Was hoping to find atleast one shop selling locally forged sword, dagger or Katar with good workmanship and finish, even without any ornamentation would hav sufficed. Went to atleast ten different shops, not a single good piece worth buying. The chinese junk is frankly irritating and the swords, katars are touristy junk, very very poor craftsmanship.

Travelling to Jaipur tomorrow, have pinned my hopes on buying a few ornmanetal koftagiri inlay work knives. Atleast they look good on the internet. Let's see.

[Rajat]

You will not find the real stuff at any of these tourist locations in these cities.

Most of the craftsmen making these are located deep inside the Old City areas and not near the tourist spots.

[alfaromeo17]

dats true but nevertheless u never knw wat might just cum ur way.

[Moin.]

You will not find the real stuff at any of these tourist locations in these cities.

Most of the craftsmen making these are located deep inside the Old City areas and not near the tourist spots.

Precisely the reason for this post here Rajat. Was looking for some right direction from the Veteran members of this forum.

Regards
Moin.

[goodboy_mentor]

Any recommendations in buying these from Udaipur or Jaipur.

You may try contacting these and see what kind of products they have and also let us all know your experience http://www.curioushouse.com/contact_us.htm

[Rajat]

I have visited old Sikligars and craftsmen in the heart of the old city in Jodhpur. There is an area called Jalori gate from there on you enter the old city there you will find a couple of shops / workshops where they still practice their art. Knives / swords / daggers both old and new can be sourced there. You will not be able to drive there due to narrow streets,

Its been a long time but I guess you will still find them there.

[Moin.]

I have visited old Sikligars and craftsmen in the heart of the old city in Jodhpur. There is an area called Jalori gate from there on you enter the old city there you will find a couple of shops / workshops where they still practice their art. Knives / swords / daggers both old and new can be sourced there. You will not be able to drive there due to narrow streets,

Its been a long time but I guess you will still find them there.

Well thank you Rajat, see this information is worth it's weight in gold. Thanks again.

Best.
Moin.

[discovershashank]

Enjoy your trip Moin ... Waiting for pics of the purchase ... ... have a Safe Journey..

[xl_target]

Also photos of the shops/market area. It would be interesting to see what they look like.
Thanks.

[kalashnikovcult]

moin , the best place u can get real good stuff is in the palace area, i had visited jaipur in november, shall post pics someday, u will come across shops near the hawa mahal, they quote irreasonable stuff

[Moin.]

moin , the best place u can get real good stuff is in the palace area, i had visited jaipur in november, shall post pics someday, u will come across shops near the hawa mahal, they quote irreasonable stuff

Thank You Kalashnikovcult. I"ll have a look today. Bummer not carrying a camera, will try take pics from my Lousy phone camera.

Best
Moin.

-- Wed Jun 15, 2011 6:40 am --

Any recommendations in buying these from Udaipur or Jaipur.

You may try contacting these and see what kind of products they have and also let us all know your experience http://www.curioushouse.com/contact_us.htm

Thanks Goodboymentor. This seems to be a flash website, can't open on my fone, butt will definately have a look.

Regards
Moin.

-- Wed Jun 15, 2011 6:42 am --

Enjoy your trip Moin ... Waiting for pics of the purchase ... ... have a Safe Journey..

Thank you Discovershashank.

Regards Moin.

[Moin.]

Gentlemen, I'm occasional drinker and have tried pot in college( pot+ Jimi Hendrix), but no intoxication, alcohol induced or ahem ** mar:_-+ ana* can compare to what I experienced today.

Drove to Jaipur from Ajmer at first light. Luckily found a very good hotel in Jaipur at offseason rates . So letting my mother India settle and rest in the room I headed looking for what I came to Rajasthan for ( have told mum, coming here for her time off- vacation from feeding her what she lovingly calls ungrateful son.

Having sourced this address of this antique dealer the first pit stop was at
Purohitji KA Katla which was about 2Kms from my hotel. Turns out this is near Hawa Mahal so got down seeing a lot of handicraft shops.

Got down just outside a very small store (may be 10' X 10') with no glass display, a very tiny tattered name plate, but displaying a few swords similar to what I had seen in Ajmer and Pushkar.
Turns out this is actually a workshop for repair of old swords and for making of new scabbards. " Arjun Sing Talwar Saaz".Hamare Yahan Purani Talwaren Repair ki jaati hain" says his visiting card. Met a fine elderly gentlemen and a 6 year old kid making scabbards for a lot of old swords just lying around the place. On asking him if these were for sale he showed me a few new ones. These were priced at about INR 2.5 K and the craftsmanship was way better than what I had seen in Pushkar, but were really heavy as hell. On requesting him sweetly if there were any old ones for sale, he pulled out his stash. I had only seen these in Museums, behind glass paritions. There were around 8 to 10 really old ones and as per what he said 50 to 250 years old. These had no ornamentation (except the 250 year old) or any visible markings on the hilt and the blade. One could make out by visual inspection that these have seen decades of use, with marks on the edges (possible sword fights ?) . To my surprise these were amazingly light, very different to the new ones seen earlier, beautifully balaced and very very sharp. I've never handled old blades before but the tempered steel was so very different to any thing I've felt before. Very few of these had any scabbards left, and no ornamanetion on the handles. The price quoted was from INR 5K to INR 12K for what he claimed was a 250 year old sword ( this one had a beautiful brass engraved handle, scabbard with shreds of velvet still clinging on the wood and beautiful silver ornamentation on the scabbard. Amazing stuff left me spell bound. I then went on to ask him if he had any daggers, khanjars etc for sale , he showed a nice old one with a thick spine, drop point blade, aluminium carved handle and a new velvet scabbard. This one was priced at around INR 900. This one again was unlike anything I had seen before. I decided to scout the market hoping to find similar gems before spending my hard earned $.

What followed was an amazing experience, but now have to take mother India for site seeing in Jaipur and typing all this on a tiny blackberry keyboard is painful. More to come gents, over and out.

[discovershashank]

Wow... Keep it coming