Shilp Samagam Mela 2026 Opens in Guwahati With 75 Artisans

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is taking its Shilp Samagam Mela 2026 to Guwahati, the capital of Assam, for an eight-day run that opens on 21 October 2026 and closes on Wednesday, 28 October. The announcement came from the ministry on 20 October 2026, a day after the series finished its opening leg in Karnataka.

Who is taking part

A total of 75 artisans are participating, among them 31 women, and together they are displaying roughly 40 varieties of handloom and handicraft products. Craftspeople from the North-Eastern states are joining those from other parts of the country, which the ministry expects will let visitors see how widely India's craft traditions vary from region to region. The venue is Farm Gate, Khanapara, in Guwahati, and the mela stays open to the public from 11 in the morning until 9 at night.

Why the ministry runs the mela

Shilp Samagam Mela, abbreviated SSM, is the ministry's marketing-support platform for artisans and beneficiaries attached to its three national corporations:

• NSFDC, which serves the Scheduled Castes, formally the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation
• NSKFDC, for safai karamcharis, formally the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation
• NBCFDC, for the backward classes, formally the National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation

The target groups are artisans from the Scheduled Castes, the Other Backward Classes, Safai Mitras and the Denotified Tribes, and the stated purpose is to let them sell directly to buyers, meet prospective customers and widen the market they can reach. The ministry frames the effort under the Prime Minister's principle of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'.

BHARAT-TULIP in focus

A key thrust at Guwahati is the promotion of BHARAT-TULIP, which stands for the Traditional Artisans' Upliftment Livelihood Programme. The initiative works on marketing the products of the target groups through physical outlets as well as e-commerce platforms, the aim being to build market linkages, carry the goods to more customers and raise artisan earnings. The mela is also used to spread word about the welfare, financial assistance and development schemes that the ministry and its corporations run.

The first leg, at Mysuru

The opening edition of SSM 2026 wound up at the Dasara Exhibition Ground in Mysuru, Karnataka, on 19 October after a nine-day run that drew thousands of visitors.