Guided walks through Srinagar's old city that stop inside working papier-mache, embroidery, carpet and copper workshops, sold to visitors staying around Dal Lake who otherwise never meet the city's craftspeople.
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You lead visitors on half-day walks through Srinagar's old city, stopping inside working craft workshops: a papier-mache painter at work, a sozni embroiderer, a carpet loom, and the copper beaters of Zaina Kadal. Along the way you show heritage sites such as Jamia Masjid and the Khanqah-e-Moula shrine on the Jhelum, with its painted papier-mache interior, and end with kahwa and fresh bread from a kandur, the neighbourhood baker.
Srinagar was named a UNESCO Creative City for crafts and folk art in 2021, and many of the craftspeople behind that title live and work in the old city. Yet many visitors stay around Dal Lake and the Boulevard and see little of the old city. NABARD's credit plan for the district calls tourism a major industry here, naming the Mughal Gardens, Dal Lake and Hazratbal Shrine.
You need registration as a guide or tour operator with the J&K Tourism Department, and fair deals with a handful of artisan families who are paid a fee for each group. The hard parts: visitors are wary of tours that push them to shop, so keep buying optional; lanes can close at short notice; and visitor numbers swing with the seasons and the security situation.
Sell through hotels and houseboat owners, travel agents, online tour listings and short videos filmed in the workshops.
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