SHOPPING PLACES
CLOTH MARKET
If you are on a Shopping spree in Delhi, one of the places that you would definitely not like to miss out on is the Chandni Chowk Market. It was once the center of a lot of trading activities and visited by merchants from as far as Turkey, China and Holland.
Katra Neel is that part of the Chandni Chowk Market where you can shop for a wide variety of cloth and fabric. Ranging from silk, satin, crepe, cotton, muslin, everything is available here. Earlier the tradesmen and craftsmen from the same business not just worked but lived here as well.
KATRA NEEL :
Chandni Chowk’s Katra Neel market is a wholesale market of clouths. Katra Neel gate is historic in itself. The market is well populated but you shall get to see all varieties of clothes here. Small lanes, their small roundabouts and Mughal era arches , shops full of clothes, cacophony all around, thousands of colours which make heart glee. This is a men clothes only market.
KINARI BAZAR :
Kinari Bazaar is very famous for zari and zardozi work, of any and every kind. It can offer anything and everything that one may need for an Indian bridal trousseau.The Kinari Bazaar of Old Delhi is today a Hindu-dominated locality with a row of shops, mostly selling puja samagri (prayer items) such as diyas (earthen lamps), thal (plates for religious ceremonies), hawankund (vessel for sacrificial fire), clothes for idols and other decoration items required for wedding rituals.
LAL KUAN
There is one place in Chandni Chowk, which gets mobbed by scores of people from all over the Capital (apart from the Red Fort) before & during the Independence Day celebrations. For all those still wracking their brains, the place being talked about is Lal Kuan.
This market has gained its popularity, mainly,
because of the kites that most of us are still crazy about today. Other reasons include a certain .Sharma Ji spice shop which is an institution in itself, the Bade Mian’s Kheer shop & a sweets shop (Shyam) which serves the best breakfast & dessert options in & around Chandni Chowk.
Coming back to the kites, they are all made & sold here. You can find hundreds of small & big shops selling kites of every size & colour possible. The ‘Iqra Kite Maker’ shop,is one of the most renowned shops here & they have been in business for quite some time now.
One shop that merits attention is, as mentioned above, the Sharma ji spice shop. It sells all kinds of spices needed in a kitchen that you can possibly dream of & has hordes of people waiting
outside the shop waiting for Mr Sharma’s helpers to hand them their packets of fresh & aromatic spices, day in & day out.
Bade Mian's Kheer shop is another shop that has been an attraction for people with a sweet tooth. It serves Kheer cooked in the most traditional North Indian way & has been doing so for over a century now.
All in all, this marketplace is sure to leave you satisfied with a hunger to come back for more,
time & again!
NAI SARAK
Nai Sarak meaning new street is the linking road, which oad to Chawri Bazar and has a very big wholesale and retail market of mainly school and college textbooks. The street is called so because it is comparatively a new and broad road made by British after the war of 1857. It is lined with double-storey buildings mainly dominated by early 20th-century architecture. The lower storeys of these buildings have shops, which are specialized in special types of books like children's books or medical textbooks or books in different languages. Some shops specialize in stationery items as well as sell papers mostly used in offices. The market is today a busy thoroughfare and customers of all age can be seen here heading towards the shops that cater to their needs. The market has also few wholesale shops of saris selling pure cotton, silk and embroidered ones among the many varieties available there. There are also one or two shops in the market that sells old and new musical instruments. The street mainly closed on Sunday. Importance: Nai Sarak important road is the road that connects that connects the main Chandni Chowk road Chawri Bazaar and has a large wholesale and retail trade, mainly school and university textbooks. There are also stores that sell saris wholesale cotton, pure silk and embroidered with our many varieties out there. And "one or two stores in the market that sells old and new players.
DARIBA KALAN
Dariba Kalan is a 17th-century street in Chandni Chowk area of Old Delhi or Shahjahanbad, and Asia's largest jewellery market. It lies within the walled city of Delhi, and connects the Chandni Chowk area with Jama Masjid.It derives its name from the Persian Dur-e be-baha, which translates as unparalleled pearl,while suffix Kalan means big. There was also a smaller street near by, known as Dariba Khurd or Chhota Dariba, both mean small, now it is known as Kinari Bazaar.[3] This is in reference to its history as a popular market for precious stones and gold and silver jewelry, especially under the reign of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The street witnessed the bloody massacre of Delhi in March 1739, ordered by the Persian invader Nadir Shah, when hundreds of innocent civilians and soldiers were killed and the gold shops were looted.
CHOR BAZAR
Have you ever visited a market which sells stolen goods with such nonchalance and pride? Well, if one visits Delhi, the amazement never ceases. Chor Bazaar is one such place where you can be surrounded by goods of every kind produced by virtually every manufacturer possible in the country (sometimes even outside). But here’s the catch: it’s all stolen, officially.Located at the shopping hub of Old Delhi, just in front of the historic Red Fort, this flea market comes to life on Sundays. From designer apparels to electronic goods, virtually everything under the sun is sold here. You’d be spoilt for choice and would be left gasping for breath when you find some of the most exclusive items possibly stolen and then resold openly.
Keeping your dignity aside, you travel from stall to stall, and utterly effervescent at the same time as the market offers countless items. Nobody asks for guarantees or warranties here. It’s just the verbal assurance which is the followed norm here and some of the goods are definitely purchasable. Nonetheless don’t carry along any inhibitions. You’ll need to put all your bargaining skills to use here. This market is not for the elite and the sophisticated. Though, you can find foreign tourists and expats here, this market is more for the adventurous and the experimental lot. Beware of pick pockets as this is, after all, the "Chor Bazaar" which literally translates to the Thief Market.