Sambhali Stall in Meherangarh Fort!
Ms. Corinne Rose


Sambhali now tries to hold a regular market stall every month to sell the craft items that the Sambhali girls have made. In January and February we were able to rent a space infront of a couple of shops in the Clocktower market in Jodhpur and this time we thought we would approach the Meherangarh Museum Trust to see if we could get a site in the Fort.

We were delighted when they agreed and are in the midst of holding a stall right inside the Fort for 6 days. This is a wonderful opportunity for us, as we are able to have the passing trade of all the tourists in Jodhpur and the Sambhali girls were very excited too!

We arranged to have the stall from the 26th March, but we still needed a canopy to protect us from the shade. This is where Bunty (part of Durag Niwas family clan) came to the rescue and no sooner had he arrived back from a trip to Delhi he was helping to get a canopy made and set-up within a few hours! Thank you Bunty! It made all the difference, because we needed the stall to look as attractive as possible, as we were there at the complete discretion of the Trust.

Our time at the Fort coincided with the Navaratri Festival – a nine-day festival which celebrates the woman goddess, Durga and the only temple for Durga in Jodhpur is in the Fort, so there was also a steady procession of visitors from far and wide visiting this temple. The Sambhali girls were also fasting of their own accord during this festival and couldn’t eat anything during the day except drinking water, juice and eating peanuts. The temperature in Jodhpur at the moment is quite hot at around 34 degrees but we were all quite happy under the canopy!

The number of tourists drops considerably by the end of March and this has showed in how much we have sold, but nevertheless has been successful enough for the girls to have earned some money by holding the stall now and possibly to have a future collaboration with the Meherangarh Museum Trust. Our thanks goes to Mr Mahendra Singh CEO and all at the MMT who have helped us to hold this stall in the Fort.