Shopping in Jaipur

Jaipur is the place to shop until you drop or you can say shopping paradise for any kind of shopping that may range from cloths, jewellery, puppets & one of the most like thing is Jutties (shoes made of camel leather). Grimacing puppets greet you at every corner, and the old city is lined with bazaars specializing in different handicrafts. You'll have to bargain hard through - shopkeepers are accustomed to tourists with lots of money and little time to spend it. The tourist-trap areas, such around the city palace and Hawa Mahal, tend to be more expensive, so just be careful before doing your shopping.

Jaipur is especially well known for precious and semiprecious stones. There are many shops offering bargain prices, but you do need to know your gems. The gem dealing area is around the Muslim area of Pahargunj. Here you can see stones being cut and polished in workshops tucked off narrow backstreets. Johari and Siredeori Bazaars are where many jewellery shops are concentrated, selling gold, silver, and fine, highly glazed enamel work known as Meenakari, a Jaipur specialty.

Bapu Bazaar is lined with saris and fabrics, though you might find better deals along Johari Bazaar, where many merchants specialize in cotton. Kisanpol Bazaar is famous for textiles, particularly bhandani (tie-dye).Nehru Bazaar also sells fabrics, as well as jootis (traditional, pointy toed shoes of Rajasthan), trinkets and perfume.

There lots of cavernous emporiums on Amber road, selling textiles, clothes, blue pottery and paintings, but put your bargaining hat on before entering.

Many rickshaw-wallahs are right into the commission business and it's likely that they'll be getting a hefty cut from any shop they steer you to.