Carpets, Silks, antique
furniture, gemstones, spices ... the warehouses and emporia of Delhi
are teeming with goods from the far corners of the Indian subcontinent.
The adventurous tourists will head for the alleyways and chowks
of Old Delhi, while the more cautious will stay to the well-trodden
round of Connaught Place and the state government handicrafts
emporia on Baba Kharak Sing Marg, with a possible side trip to South
Extension market and Hauz Khas Village.
The Cottage Industries Emporium, the most central of the
government-run handicraft centers, located on Janpath, is well stocked
with textiles, leather, silks, jewelry, saris and cotton. On Baba
Kharak Sing Marg, the Himachal Pradesh Emporium has soft
blankets and cashmere, pashmina and wool shawls, while the Poompahar
Emporium stocks the region’s glazed traditional stone
carvings of gods and goddesses and Thanjuver pottery. The Uttar
Pradesh Emporium specializes in copper, leather goods and brass
items.
Hauz Khas Village in south Delhi has a centralized
collection of furniture shops and bazaars, as well as a good selection
of boutiques offering silks, designer clothes, organzas and chiffons.
There are a few shops selling carpets in Delhi but it's recommended
to exercise caution, by sticking to the trustworthy, fixed-price,
non-commission establishments. All the carpets at Saga, on
Mathura Road, accompany a Central Silk Board guarantee.
Delhi’s markets are crammed with people, goods, and smells.
The spectacular bazaars of Chandni Chowk are open daily and
are stocked with gold, spices, nuts, carpets, silks, and perfume
and are worth visiting for the spectacle alone.
Sunder Nagar Market, off Mathura Road, is open Monday-Saturday
and is a great place to find jewelryand antiques,
as well as a huge variety of other trinkets and artifacts spilling
out of the shops.
1 of Delhi's most impressive markets and a regular haunt
of ex-pats, is Khan Market, just south of India Gate, open
Tuesday-Sunday. Lots of excellent book shops can be found here.
The wholesale Spice Market, in the old city, on Khari Baoli,
is where, for centuries, the culinary traditions of North Asia,
Persia, China, and the Middle East have greatly influenced local
cuisine.
Except in the government-run shops, bargaining is always recommended...
It's the only way for shoppers to ensure they don't pay too much
over the odds. Shops tend to open around 10:00 am and close between
18:00 and 19:00. |
