Welcome To Our Chakra Family
We stock an eclectic, individual collection of high quality handicrafts, scarves, stirling silver and semi precious stone jewellery, brass iconography and clothes sourced from our travels; predominantly in India and around exotic South East Asia.
For those new to Chakra, who may not know much about us, we the owners (Janet and Alan) visited and fell in love with India and all its vibrant colours and flavours over 30 years ago. At the time we were both Arts students at Monash University studying history, including Indian history. Over this time we lived in India on and off for three years immersing ourselves in its energy and history.
While living in Portugese influenced Goa we set up our first market stall, designing clothes and bringing goods from all over India to Goa to sell.
We wanted to share this amazingly diverse but ancient Asian culture, so we began sourcing and selling handmade stirling silver and semi-precious stone jewellery, handicrafts, clothes, silks and scarves and musical instruments along with natural cottons and hand loomed fibres. We looked for things we loved and which we thought our customers would love. We also discovered great homewares such as an extensive range of textiles and bedsheets, cushion covers and Thai cushions.
We have accumulated an extensive range of individually hand picked fine quality brass statues of many of the Hindu and Tibetan gods such as Ganesh, Buddha, Siva and Kali. These include lost waxes from Orissa, individual pieces that are totally unique and not mass produced.
We began the Australian CHAKRA story by selling at markets both at Universities and at festivals such as Confest and Port Fairy Folk festival while we were still University students. We expanded taking a stall at South Melbourne market and then to our first shop in St. Kilda. We moved to iconic Acland St in St. Kilda and then added a second store in Hampton.
Our aim is to be able to provide a personal service of high quality. When you enter our stores we want our customers to enter a relaxed, peaceful world evocative of the exotic, the romantic and the fascinating East. We want everyone to have a great Chakra experience and to be able to share our love of Asia.
In the words of Hermann Hesse:
‘Our goal was not only the east. Rather the east was not only a country and something geographical, but it was the home and youth of the soul. It was everywhere and nowhere. It was the union of all times…’
