.jpg)
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Shopping · Varanasi
Varanasi is famous for Banarasi sarees and silk — and for markups that can run 5-10x when a driver or guide is quietly paid to bring you to a particular shop. Our partnered stores agree to fixed, tagged prices in advance, and we take zero commission from any of them, ever.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
The problem
A well-worn pattern in tourist cities: a driver or guide is paid a commission to bring you to a specific shop, and the prices there are marked up to cover it — sometimes far beyond what the item is actually worth.
How we're different
Every store we work with agrees to this arrangement before we send anyone their way:
Our silk partner
We spent a long time looking for a silk house we could name publicly without a caveat. Mantavya is the one we settled on, and Kashi & Kin guests are looked after there on terms better than walk-in.
Banarasi handloom · Mahmoorganj, Varanasi
Mantavya works directly with weaving families in and around Varanasi rather than buying finished stock through middlemen, which is the difference that actually shows up in the cloth. Their name comes from the Sanskrit for that which is to be considered, and their stated purpose is keeping handloom Banarasi weaving alive as a living craft rather than a heritage exhibit.
What they weave: pure tissue silk, which is what they are best known for, alongside katan silk, khaddi georgette, cotton jamdani, kora, mashru, tussar and chiniya silk. Beyond sarees they make suits, lehengas, dupattas and blouse pieces, so this is not a one-item stop.
For Kashi & Kin guests
Tell us before you go and we will let Mantavya know you are coming. Their team applies a preferential rate for our guests at the counter, on top of the tagged price everyone else pays. There is no code to remember and nothing to print. Just say you are travelling with Kashi & Kin when you arrive, and mention it to us first so the shop is expecting you.
What we get out of it: nothing. No commission, no referral fee, no cut of anything you buy. We say this on the record because the rest of this page would be worthless otherwise. We recommend Mantavya because the weaving is real and the pricing is honest, and the entire benefit of the arrangement goes to you rather than to us.
Not in Varanasi yet, or out of suitcase space? Mantavya ship from their own online store, so you can see the collection before you travel and order afterwards. The in-store rate is a Varanasi thing, though, so if you are coming, buy here.
Pricing
₹699 per visit, covering your Sāthi's time — the goods themselves are priced separately by each store, at the fixed rate shown to you before you buy anything.
The most common way visitors overpay is being taken to a shop by a driver or guide who's paid commission — the markup covers that commission. Shopping with a Sāthi who takes zero commission removes that incentive entirely.
Genuine handwoven Banarasi silk exists alongside power-loom imitations sold as handmade. Our partnered weavers and stores are vetted in advance, and your Sāthi can point out the difference on the spot.
Every price you're quoted while shopping with us is given to you in writing before you agree to it. Find a lower honest price for the same item within 48 hours and we refund double the difference.
Of course. The value here is having someone who knows which stores don't inflate prices for tourists, and who negotiates fairly on your behalf without taking a cut.
Brassware, wooden toys, musical instruments, and the local markets around Vishwanath Gali and Thatheri Bazaar for general souvenirs.
We send guests to Mantavya, a Banarasi handloom house in Mahmoorganj that works directly with weaving families rather than buying finished stock through middlemen. Pure tissue silk is what they are best known for, alongside katan, khaddi georgette, cotton jamdani, kora, mashru, tussar and chiniya silk, plus suits, lehengas and dupattas. Open Monday to Saturday, 11am to 8pm, closed Sunday. Tell us before you go and their team applies a preferential rate for our guests at the counter.
No. No commission, no referral fee, no cut of what you spend. The arrangement exists so our guests get a better rate than walk-in, and that is the whole of it. If that ever changes we will say so on this page rather than quietly leave it out.
Fixed prices, zero commission, and a Sāthi who tells you if something isn't genuine.
Book a shopping visitIn their words
Read all reviews →
