The first three shops are quite touristy, but offer a one-stop shop if you are looking for ease and shipping services. The last two shops are where I found two of my favorite buys: a beautiful Ganesh carving and hand-made “business cards.”

Cauvery Arts And Craft Emporium
Sayyaji Rao Road, Mysore
Telephone: 821-252-1258
This is a bit of a touristy store but it has a good selection of craft items. You’ll find wood carvings, jewelry, tapestries, incense and furniture.

Handicrafts Sales Emporium
Ramsons House in front of Mysore Zoo
Mysore 570 010
E-mail: ramsonsarts@sify.com
Web site: www.ramsonsmysore.com
Telephone: 821-244-3669
Telephone: 821-244-9121
Fax: 821-256-3602
There are two floors to explore filled with statues, jewelry, gifts and textiles. They cater to Western tourists so the prices are on the high side.

Mysore Silk Emporium
3 Nethra Nivas, Hotel Sandesh Complex
Nazarbad Main Road, Mysore 570 010
Telephone: 821-252-1247
This store is run by the government and has a large variety of quality silk saris and fabrics. Tailors are onsite and the prices are fixed.

Sri Sathya Mohan Handy Crafts
1756 Akbar Road (near Ganesh Beedi Godown)
Mandi Mohalla, Mysore 570 021
Telephone: 821-244-8797
A small shop crammed with carved sandalwood and rosewood statues, inlaid articles and gifts. Around the back of the shop, you can take a peek at the artisan carvers as they whittle away. If you are looking to purchase a wood-carved statue, the prices are better here than at the fancy touristy showrooms.

Vaishnavi Marketing Designer Stationary
Telephone: 944-848-6434
These makers of handmade and recycled paper products have a display table each Sunday at the outdoor organic market from 10 – 1 pm on the grounds of the Green Hotel. One of their most popular items among yoga students is their beautiful business cards. You can place an order on a Sunday and pick them up the following week. 100 cards cost Rs. 200. If you need the order completed sooner than a week, they can often accommodate you, but you will have to pick them up at their home near the foot of Chamundi Hill.

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Devaraj Market

This colorful outdoor market is a dizzying maze of everything under the Mysore sun – from flowers to fresh produce to household items and beyond! Definitely a must-see. It is at the intersection where Vinoba Road meets Sayyaji Rao Road, near KR Circle. If you’re not sure how to get there, take an auto-rickshaw.

Green Hotel Organic Market

Every Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm, there is an organic market at the Green Hotel. The selection is small and products go fast, so it’s best to get there early. You will often find yoga students lounging around the Green Hotel after Sunday practice.

Loyal World

Temple Road
V.V. Mohalla, Mysore 570 002
Telephone: 821-251-6986
Within walking distance of Gokulam, Loyal World is a supermarket with a large selection of products.

Nilgiri’s Supermarket

1/3 Vinoba Road (corner of Bhudevi Farm)
Jayalakshmipuram, Mysore 570 012
Telephone: 821-526-2503/2803On the same road as the Green Hotel, there is a Nilgiri’s Supermarket at the address above. Another Nilgiri’s is located in Lakshmipuram near Ballal Circle within walking distance of Mysore Mandala.

Shivananda Supermarket

8 Adipampa Road
V.V. Mohalla, Mysore
Telephone: 821-251-1944
A smaller market located near the Shiva Temple in V.V. Mohalla, an easy walk from Gokulam.

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If you don’t want to lug heavy books to Mysore, there are several lending libraries for yoga students. You can borrow or leave behind books at Tina’s, Alia’s Guest House (formerly Kev Inn) and Mysore Mandala. If you’re looking for a bigger selection, a good bookstore with English titles is Ashok Book Centre. There is also Geetha’s in K.R. Circle.

Ashok Book Centre
396 Dhanwanthri Road
Mysore 570 001
Telephone: 821-243-5553

Geetha Book House
K.R. Circle, Mysore
Telephone: 821-242-7704
Telephone: 821-243-3589

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I’m not sure how I ended up on the CafePress.com website, but there I was. So I decided to search the word ‘ashtanga’ just for the hell of it.

Well, what do you know. A slew of yoga merchandise and some ashtanga specific. Even onesies! Wonder if these are “official?” And yes I know, I have too much time on my hands, better spent nailing those elusive jump-throughs.

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The Huffington Post – Life Cycle

by Simran Sethi
August 12, 2008

It’s the end of class. You’re breathing deeply, surrendering the weight of your body into your yoga mat. Breathing in…and out. Letting yourself go.

Who doesn’t feel better after a yoga class? Yoga is the union of the body, mind and spirit. It stabilizes the nervous system, decreases blood pressure, increases flexibility and endurance, and opens you up in ways that you may not have imagined.

Simran used to be a yoga teacher. She loves the practice even though she hasn’t spent much time on her mat lately. (”Yoga on the inside, baby!”) Sarah gets her yoga on every week and knows it does her body good. Read more…

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If you’ve never been to Mysore before, then you might not know this little well-known secret. The tailors in Mysore are fabulous! You can have clothing custom-made to fit you for a fraction of what it would cost in the U.S. It’s such a great perk of traveling to Mysore, that many students take advantage of having clothing custom-made when it would never occur to them to do otherwise. When I was in Mysore, I commissioned 20 yoga mat bags to be made by hand. They were beautiful, silk, roomy with a zipper and pocket – each for under $5! I resold them in my yoga studio for $25 and they flew out the door. People loved them.

So if you have an idea for something new that you would like or have a favorite piece of clothing, show the tailor a picture or the actual garment and he/she can probably reproduce it in your choice of fabrics. There are lots of tailors, so ask around for people’s favorites. Two places that are often referred are Rashinkar near K.R. Circle and Neera’s Designs on the Main Road in Gokulam. Also, a tailor named Manju can sometimes be found outside of AYRI in the mornings.

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