Sualkuchi weaving householdsSualkuchi, Kamrup
Buying muga, pat and eri mekhela chadors from the looms themselves — the only reliable way to know that muga is muga and not a viscose imitation.
Brahmaputra Valley · Eastern Himalaya & Brahmaputra Belt
Shops and premises
Sarthebari bell-metal workshopsSarthebari, Bajali
Xorai, bati and ban-bati beaten by hand in a craft village where the trade is still organised by household.
Fancy BazarGuwahati
The city's main market — silk, gamosas, dry fish, brassware and everything else, over several noisy blocks.
Guwahati Tea Auction CentreGuwahati
One of the largest CTC tea auction centres in the world; the price of a great deal of India's everyday chai is set here.
Pragjyotika, Assam Government EmporiumGuwahati
Fixed-price handloom and handicraft with provenance — useful precisely because muga is so widely faked.
Artfed and Assam Apex Weavers showroomsGuwahati and district towns
Cooperative-run outlets selling directly on behalf of weavers, including Bodo dokhona and aronai.
Jonbeel Mela barter groundMorigaon
Not a shop at all — a fair, once a year, where hill and plains communities exchange goods without money, as they have for centuries.
Maniram Dewan Trade CentreBetkuchi, Guwahati
The state's trade fair and handicraft venue, named for the tea planter and rebel executed by the British in 1858.
Famous shops, markets and workshops in Brahmaputra Valley, and what each is known for. (8)