Bharatpur Shopping

This tip is more about an item than a shop. :)

One of the nicest little knick-knacks that we found on our visit to the Bharatpur area were little historic-styled paintings, depicting many of the birds one can see at Keoladeo National Park. The paintings themselves are copies of true antique miniatures, some of which are 150-200 years old. To add to the feel, the painting copies are done on old parchment, taken from older (30-50 years old) parchment textbooks, which are hand copied in Arabic. You can even see the old Arabic text on the front and back of the parchments. All in all, a very nifty little something to bring home. And, price-wise, they're a great choice to bring home to friends. Most of the ones I bought were about 400-500 Rs each, basically about US$ 10.

I bought four and I plan to make a little miniature parchment bird gallery in the corner of my office. I'm sure I'll have a smile each time I see them and remember the enjoyable morning and afternoons we'd spent birding in Bharatpur.

I am going to put a scan of one parchment down below. Please see the separate little "Parchment Avian Art" travelogue that I'm placing on my Bharatpur page for a few more scans/examples of these wonderful little keepsakes.