Sarees being sold. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, July 20: The steel city is enjoying Deccan flavours at the Muslim Library in Bistupur.

The Andhra Pradesh Handicrafts Development Corporation set up its craft mela, Lepakshi, yesterday at the centrally-located venue in the steel city.

For shopping convenience, handloom and handicrafts products of the southern state can be found here under one roof.

Over 50 artisans and weavers with their crafts and textiles have put up around 12 stalls at the fair, which will conclude on July 30.

The 12-day fair would be open everyday between 10am and 9pm.

“Our aim of organising this fair is to popularise our crafts and help artisans get a direct interface with buyers, which not only helps the former to improve their designs according to customer needs, but also bag orders from buyers,” said K. Rohini, manager of the handicrafts corporation.

According to her, this was the second edition of the fair at Jamshedpur.

“The corporation has decided to make the fair an annual event here as last year we did good business. We look forward to a better response this time,” she said.

On display are handloom sarees such as Gadwal, Venkatgiri, Narayanpet, Siddipet and Gollabhama. Besides these, there are hand-block print sarees and tops, suits and kurtas priced from Rs 300 onwards.

New styles include embroidery, crochet lace and Machilipatnam Kalamkari prints.

Apart from textiles, the fair has a wide range of metal wares, terracotta, wood carving and showpieces in cane and bamboo, all made by traditional artisans of Andhra Pradesh.

Artificial jewellery such as pendants, necklaces, chains and bracelets are also available between Rs 500 and Rs 10,000.