Nico Icon Pondy: How to Gift a Buddha (and Ganesh, Shiva & Krishna) in Pondicherry

This Buddha below costs just Rs 1000
(11.80 Euro)
(16.40 US Dollars)

We did not believe the shop lady Vimla when she told us the price, Rs 1000! Did she mean 10,000?
But it was true. Almost everything in her shop was so lowly priced that I asked her how it was possible. She said that since hers was not an elegant boutique with air conditioning and spot lighting, she could not demand 7000 or 8000 Rs! It was just a stall by the side of the road where Western tourists almost never stopped.

And she was right because most of my expat friends in Pondy who've lived here for years have not noticed this shop. When you enter, you will see that she stocks some phantastic masks :

(African style,
tribal adivasi style,
kathakali style
and of course the Gods of the Hindu pantheon)

Most statues are built from clay/mud and then given a bronzed rustic finish. Not too gold but just rightly dusted. I have added pictures and descriptions and approximate prices of some products. Vimala had no problems with the prices being openly mentioned..

Now you can make sure that the artisan and the immediate seller benefits most from your money!

The address is:
Shop No. 3, Gingee Salai + rue Marine cutting
Opposite Auroshikha Boutique
(5 minutes from Shri Aurobindo Ashram)

Map provided at the end.