Ever wondered how your favourite handloom sari or shirt has been woven? Or how a grain is separated from its husk by pedalling?
If you want to go back to basics, then the 10th edition of Rashtriya Khadi and Saras Mahotsav, which began on Morbadi grounds from Friday, is the place to visit.
Apart from about 500 stalls of khadi and rural handicraft products from 25 states, kiosks are showcasing spinning on wheels, weaving on handlooms and pedal husking.
There are also stalls if people want to enrol for Aadhaar and voter ID cards. Nationalised banks and Nabard have also put up kiosks to generate awareness among masses on financial inclusion schemes.
For art buffs, state art and culture department has put up a pavilion with paintings of about 60 artists of Jharkhand.
Art and culture director Anil Kumar Singh said they had put up the pavilion for the second successive year to promote state artists.
Though stalls from some states were still not put up by Day Three, it being a Sunday witnessed a huge rush of visitors from the afternoon.
Stalls offered a wide variety of products, from pickles to ayurvedic medicines, from bamboo to dhokra artefacts, from miniature Eiffel Tower replicas to navratna meenakari ornaments of Rajasthan.
Of course, the main attraction was khadi.
A visitor from Doranda, Vikas Singh, said he saw khadi shirts and bundies in attractive colours in different stalls. "The prices are reasonable," he added, showing a chrome yellow half-sleeved shirt that he bought for Rs 300 at a 40 per cent discount.
Nitai Mandal of Beldanga Khadi Gramodyog Samiti, who came from Murshidabad in Bengal, added they had been coming to the Ranchi fair for a good many years and looked forward to some good business.
Also, shops selling curios are worth visiting. "Making the items take time and skill," pointed out Ramdas Murmu from Pakur, giving finishing touches to a miniature replica of Eiffel Tower. He added it would cost Rs 1,500.
The fair also puts up cultural programmes by states. On Sunday, folk artistes from Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Odisha presented shows. Though entry fee to the fair costs Rs 10 per head, a gift awaits every visitor at the counters.
