Craft · Gangtok

Workshops at the Handicrafts Directorate

Watch young artisans paint thangkas, carve and paint wooden choksee tables and weave carpets and Lepcha loin-loom cloth at the government Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom, set up in 1957. Buy directly from the emporium, with fixed prices.

Gangtok1,650M

Photo: Batsv · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom sits at Zero Point, about 1 km above MG Marg. It began on 9 March 1957 as the Palden Thondup Cottage Industries Institute, named after the crown prince, with a simple aim: give rural families a cash income beyond farming and herding. By 1962 it had become a training and production centre, and today it runs training centres across Sikkim.

On weekdays you can walk through the workshops. Trainees paint thangkas with mineral colours, carve and paint the folding choksee tables found in Sikkimese homes, knot Tibetan-style carpets and weave on the Lepcha loin loom, a back-strap loom that produces narrow, bright, geometric cloth. A museum on site, opened in 2007, shows finished pieces.

The sales emporium has fixed prices, which takes the haggling out of buying a carpet, a painted mask or a loin-loom bag. Workshops are closed on Sundays and government holidays, and photography rules vary by section, so ask first. Combine it with Enchey Monastery, a short drive further up the ridge.

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Questions travellers ask

Before you book

What can we buy at the Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom?

Thangka paintings, carved and painted choksee tables, masks, Tibetan-style carpets, Lepcha loin-loom bags and shawls, and smaller items such as table mats and wall hangings. Prices are fixed and lower than many private shops for the same quality. Carpets and large tables can be shipped; ask the emporium.

Is the Directorate open on Sundays?

Usually not. The workshops and emporium normally open Monday to Saturday and close on Sundays and government holidays, with second Saturdays sometimes closed too. Visit on a weekday morning to see the trainees at work. Check current status before you travel.

What is Lepcha loin-loom weaving?

It is a traditional back-strap weaving method of the Lepcha people, Sikkim's earliest inhabitants. The weaver sits on the floor with the loom tensioned by a strap around her waist and weaves narrow strips of bright, geometric cloth. The strips are stitched into bags, jackets and shawls.

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