New Delhi: India i s home to some of the most unique arts and crafts, available across various regions of the country, showcasing a wide diversity in design.
Artisans from each state of India bring the fascinating history and tradition of a region to life through their unique craftsmanship.
Be it the unmistakably soft pashmina shawls from Kashmir or the satin-like silk from Mysore, Karnataka or the impeccable carvings from Odisha and Dokra metal art from Chhatthisgrah all these handmade products use indigenous materials and traditional techniques.
Despite having a rich legacy, indigenously produced crafts don’t gather as much popularity as they deserve, often due to lack of awareness amongst consumers and limited access to a wide audience.
Naanjil is an effort that aims to celebrate the diversities in culture and traditions in India by promoting the Indian handicraft industry and providing a platform for artisans who face a slew of challenges such as poor market access and lack of resources to sustain their craft.
Naanjil derives its name from a town called Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district, the southernmost tip of Tamil Nadu. Nagercoil and its surroundings swathed in green were known as Naanjilnaadu in early days.
Naanjil works with artisans on a range of unique handcrafted items ranging from toys and decor items to sarees and other handloom crafts. In 2019, Naanjil joined the Amazon Karigar program and registered a growth of 2X growth in sales and there has been no turning back since.
As part of this program, Naanjil works with artisans from South India to promote handcrafted items such as toys, decor items, sarees, handlooms and other crafts.
This partnership has propelled their business and helped them scale their growth to the next level by launching their store on A.com platform which caters to customers in 12 global markets including the US.
During Amazon’s Great Indian Festival, Naanjil registered exceptional growth of over 550% compared to BAU during the weeklong event with increased visibility and access to a wide consumer base during the sale enabled the company to sell over thousands of products, thus helping the founders achieve their aim of promoting indigenous arts and crafts.
“By working closely with local artisans, we understood the importance of a marketplace like Amazon.in in creating a viable business for lesser-known local handicrafts."
"Partnering with Amazon Karigar and participating in events like Amazon’s Great Indian Festival has helped us build a sustainable business model for the handicraft communities we work with, while also giving us the opportunity to be a part of the larger movement that’s working towards reviving traditional art forms of India."
"The growth in sales we received in a week on the Amazon marketplace is a testament to the fact that online selling has helped create a cohesive ecosystem to promote the growth of local ‘Made in India’ arts and crafts”, said Sushmita, founder of Naanjil.
The Amazon Karigar program was launched by in 2016 with an aim to enable small businesses like Naanjil to benefit from eCommerce and grow their businesses. By partnering with such an organization, Amazon is contributing to the revival of dying art forms from across the country.
The Karigar store on A.in is a dedicated storefront for sellers under the Karigar program that aims to give prominence to India’s rich handicrafts heritage by enabling weavers and artisans to showcase ‘Made in India’ products to customers.
It exclusively promotes handlooms and handicrafts from across the country, in line with Amazon’s vision of transforming the way India buys and sells. The Karigar store also educates consumers about traditional handicrafts while allowing them to purchase these on the Amazon.in platform.
During the recently concluded Amazon Great Indian Festival between September 28 – October 4, Karigar brands registered a growth of 2X.
Amazon’s Karigar program has partnered with 13 Government Emporiums and 5 Government bodies enabling over 2400 master weavers, co-operatives, artisans and APEX bodies (including National Award-winning weavers) to sell online.
The program has directly impacted over 8 lakh weavers and artisans across 20 states and 2 union territories. Like Naanjil’s crafts, several indigenous arts and crafts such as Itkal sarees, Ajrakh block prints, Rogan Art, and Mud work craft are now available on the Karigar store.
Providing India’s unmatched craftsmanship with a wider reach, the selection on ‘Amazon Karigar’ comprises of over 270 unique craft forms including authentic merchandise with stunning, intricate designs from national award weavers.
Right from Banarasi brocades that employ the resist dyeing technique, the bold geometrical prints of Sambalpuri fabrics to Itkal sarees, which are hand-knotted and in practice for more than 1200 years, Amazon India has been giving an enormous push to the weaver community to get online at lightning speed.
Through its on-ground partner Prione, Amazon India has been conducting workshop across the country, penetrating deeper into various weaver clusters to educate, train and onboard thousands of weavers and craftsmen and put forward the real ‘Make in India’ offering to its customers.