About Gandhara

Our Story

Gandhara is an iconic furniture and lifestyle store that specializes in home interiors, that was founded back in 2004 by Dian Gomes. Being a benefactor of talented artisans, Dian appreciates the highest forms of craftsmanship and art, and Gandhara is home to some hand-picked items that have been selected during his many travels overseas. These days Dian benefits from the input of his daughter, Shahili Gomes-McCoy who oversees the business’ creative direction. The store offers a collection of products from Sri Lanka as well as other culturally diverse regions such as Peru, Tibet, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Burma as well as several countries in Africa. Gandhara is the centre point of Gandhara Street, Sri Lanka’s first ever ‘art street’ situated in the heart of Colombo 6.

The Gandhara Promise

Quality

Here at Gandhara we never compromise on quality; whether it be the workmanship or the raw materials that make our products, everything we do is to the best possible standard.

Design

While maintaining an array of classics, Gandhara always keeps up to date with global design trends; delivering a mix of the traditional and the modern.

Global Sourcing

Gandhara is home to art and artifacts from all over the world, and is a representation of each nation’s culture and craftsmanship.

End-to-end Solutions

Gandhara offers custom manufacturing paired with the highest quality furniture and accessories, and acts as a one-stop interior solutions provider.

Our Philosophy

Product curation stays true to its inception, thereby following the founder’s eye for art and superior quality. Our offering is curated regularly by a team of experienced creatives, which ensures more variety for the end customer. Each product category has a selection of suppliers, some of whom have been with Gandhara for over a decade, assuring reliability and longevity.

Handmade glass vases

Glassblowing is a magnificent craft that requires talent, patience, and good training. The technique has been around for hundreds of years and remains almost unchanged today: it involves heating sand, lime and soda into a liquid mass and then blowing the resulting molten glass into shapes using a wooden mold. Small deviations and bubbles in these glass vases are not errors, but a part of the unique process of glass blowing; standing apart from the standard glass vases in the market, both in terms of backstory, quality, and visual appeal. Gandhara sources high quality handmade, mouth-blown vases from one of the finest global suppliers.

Table lamps

The store is a utopia of lampshades; with a variety of sizes, shapes and patterns. This includes our classic blue and white Chinese lamps with patterns created using finely ground cobalt oxide mixed with water, reflecting a unique history going back to China’s Tang dynasty. Along with lamp options that boast cracked and gloss finishing with inspired art, our lamps come in a range of patterns and colours from birds in pastel shades, to patterns in vibrant colours. For the slightly more understated space, we also have minimal and modern lamps. For those seeking a metallic look, Gandhara has a range of solid coloured lamps in bronze, silver and gold tones.

Batik linen

Sri Lanka is famous for everything batik, and Gandhara has a colourful range of cotton cushion covers, table mats and napkins; the perfect additions to any living or dining space. The promotion of the village arts is a way of keeping alive an important part of our vibrant and beautiful culture. The batik art panels provide quilters, craft and home sewers, and interior designers with an opportunity to combine an ancient art form with a contemporary use. Since each batik piece is individually handmade, the colours and designs may vary. Originally, when batik-making was a cottage industry, one artist created the entire batik from start to finish.

Our Offering

Gandhara is a furniture, art and lifestyle store that also acts as a design studio. Having products that could fully furnish any space, the store has furniture, art, light fittings, accessories and much more. For any custom needs, the specialized in-house manufacturing unit can make just about anything the customer envisions: from the perfect four-poster bed with matching side tables, to detailed closets with the finest finishing. The team goes the extra mile to ensure that the space is the best it can be, which entails sourcing everything the space requires and not being confined to what the store offers.

What our clients are saying

I have been a patron of Gandhara for the past 15 years and that is because of their consistently well-curated eclectic collection of modern, stylish, ethnic furniture and accessories from across Africa and South-East Asia. Their customer service is excellent, only cementing the reason why they are my first choice for interior accessories and feature pieces.

Dipika Dharmadasa A.I.A (SL), A.A (Calif)Managing Director DDN Design (Pvt) Ltd

Gandhara is one amongst our varied and carefully selected suppliers for PWA architects, offering home decor and homeware items; including specialty artifacts and art. These add a layer and veneer of decoration that enhances not only our architectural projects but also our interior fit out projects.

PWA Architects

There is nothing better than to be surprised, and I always feel like that when I visit the Gandhara store. Many times, I have found the perfect piece of furniture or table lamp for the interior design projects I have handled. Invariably when I go around the store, there is always something else in addition, some curio or quirky item that I realize I needed for a client, but would not have thought of. I love going to the store, as there is an ever-changing display of merchandise, so you never know what you are going to find! With a helpful team to look after you, I can recommend Gandhara without any hesitation whatsoever. Keep up the great work.

George CooperCEO and Founder, Kahanda Kanda Collection

Gandhara has been familiar place to me for nearly a decade, and never has the store disappointed. It’s a place to immerse in art from all over the world, while treating myself to some high-quality furniture. The Gandhara team has never hesitated to assist whenever possible, here’s looking forward to many more visits.

Thomas Stillmann

Gandhara has regularly engendered positive comments from our clients about their service and response. It is always a pleasure to work with the team there.

Channa Daswatte A.I.A (SL)Partner MICD Associates

George CooperCEO and Founder, Kahanda Kanda Collection

Dipika Dharmadasa A.I.A (SL), A.A (Calif)Managing Director DDN Design (Pvt) Ltd

PWA Architects

Thomas Stillmann

Gandhara has regularly engendered positive comments from our clients about their service and response. It is always a pleasure to work with the team there.

Channa Daswatte A.I.A (SL)Partner MICD Associates

About Gandhara

About Gandhara

Our Story

The Gandhara Promise

Our Philosophy

Our Offering

What our clients are saying

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