Kankatala opens its first-ever mall store at Inorbit Mall, Visakhapatnam

In Visakhapatnam, one might say that it is tradition for a bride to buy her wedding silk saree from Kankatala. It’s a practice as old as the mid-1900s, when Kankatala Appalaraju, the founder, established the name as a go-to for some of the rarest and finest weaves known to Vizag-ites then. Come 2026, the saree-house is on its 83rd year of being interwoven with the city and has even deepened this bond by just opening its first-ever mall outlet at Inorbit Mall, Visakhapatnam.

“We’re very proud to open our first store in a mall, and we’re very happy that it happens to be in Visakhapatnam, where my grandfather started the business of sarees and Kankatala,” says Anirudh Kankatala, the third-generation Director of the family, in conversation with Yo! Vizag.

The women of Kankatala light the ceremonial inaugural lamps!

In the new and uncharted setting, the brand holds on to its traditional warmth. Located on the first floor, the store maintains a compact façade but beckons one inside with a grand welcome. Red Kanchipurams, blue Uppadas, violet Organzas, and weaves in all materials and colours stretch as far as the eyes can see. At the entrance, the right-hand wall is fitted with a four-fold display of black-and-white pictures of Kankatala in its beginnings.

Venture further in, and racks of sarees on the left invite customers to touch, feel, and explore the details of each weave for themselves. On the right, neatly stacked sarees line the shelves behind friendly staff, with each section labelled by the name of the weave or variety it houses.

Broadly, the store stocks Kanchipurams, Maheshwaris, Organzas, Patan Patolas, Kota sarees, Chanderis, Mangalagiris, Banarasis, dress materials and much more. These can be shopped at leisure on the chairs placed mindfully all over.

The thought that has gone into making the space easy to navigate is evident in even the smallest details. The Yo! Vizag team gets a glimpse of this firsthand when Mallikharjuna Rao, Chairman and Managing Director of Kankatala, walks in. He immediately begins inspecting the displays, suggesting changes to the arrangement of certain sarees and guiding the staff on how best to present the collection.

Mallikharjuna Rao, Chairman and Managing Director of Kankatala (right)

“When the family discussed setting up a store at Inorbit Mall, my main concern was the price range,” he explains, when talking about the space. “A customer walking into Inorbit Mall would already be spending on entertainment and the other offerings at the mall. Keeping that in mind, we have priced a majority of our collection between Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 6,000.”

Sarees priced between Rs. 6,000 and Rs. 10,000 make up a smaller portion of the collection, while those above Rs. 10,000 account for a negligible share.

Ultimately, as Anirudh says, everything comes together for a single cause: to make every woman feel happy and comfortable in the saree she takes home. “That is when we, as a family at Kankatala, are happy.”

It is the norm that Kankatala has held for 83 years, and perhaps, that is exactly what has earned the brand its title, the ‘Queen of Sarees.’

Explore the space: