Santhosh Chandran
DOHA
Souq Waqif, Qatar’s very own traditional Arabic market, is buzzing with festivities and has become ‘a go-to place’ for World Cup fans in search of the coolest souvenir items. Large number of football fans and visitors arrive at the Souq for antiques, portraits, handicrafts, leather bags, traditional Arabic dress and Mehndi, the skin decoration on hands.
A shopper at Souq said, "The flow of crowd continues until late night. While fans from Europe prefer to buy antique pieces that reflect Arab culture and tradition, the people from Asian countries opt for decorated crockery and cloths”. A Spanish lady said, "I haven’t seen such beautiful place anywhere before. It looks like a centuries old traditional Arab market that I only saw in some oil paintings. There’s also music on streets all the time and the restaurants are really worth visiting”.
Traditional Arab dress thobes are also in huge demand. Many people are excited to wear this much respected traditional dress.While some wear the traditional outfits themselves and walk away, others purchase it as a souvenir for families and friends back home.”
Leather accessories used for camel race are the other items purchased as souvenirs. The skin art Mehndi is also an attraction for the European fans.
Souq Waqif has expert skin artists, especially for Mehndi.
Watching a Mehndi artist in action, a football lover from Norway said, "The beautiful art reflects minute details of Arabic heritage and reveal their deep rooted tradition in art and culture”.