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Chawri Bazar | |
|---|---|
  Chawri Bazar Location in Delhi, India | |
| Coordinates:28°39′01″N77°13′46″E / 28.650402°N 77.229379°E /28.650402; 77.229379 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Delhi |
| District | North Delhi |
| Metro | New Delhi |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Hindi |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | |
| Planning agency | MCD |
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Chawri Bazar is a specializedwholesale market ofbrass, copper and paper products.[1] Established in 1840, with a hardware market, it was the first wholesale market ofOld Delhi[2] it lies to the west ofJama Masjid in Delhi.[3]
It can be reached by taking the street just near the middle projection of Jama Masjid's western (rear) wall. It was accessible via theChawri Bazar underground station of theDelhi Metro.
Once popularly known for its dancing girls andcourtesans in the 19th century, frequented by nobility and rich alike. After the advent of the British as thetawaif culture faded out, subsequently, prostitutes came to occupy the upper floors of the market. This eventually led to the area becoming a hub of criminality and thus theDelhi Municipal Committee evicted them from the area altogether,[4] the street is named after aMarathi wordchawri, which means meeting place. The street got this name mainly because here a 'sabha' or meeting would take place in front of aMaratha noble's house and he would try settling the disputes before it would reach theemperor. A second reason is probably that a gathering used to get organized when a respected dancer performed and showed the finer nuances of her skill. The whole ambience of the street, however, got changed after the1857 war when the British destroyed many huge mansions of theMaratha nobles. Built ofLakhori bricks, a small canon is placed over the gateways of both the buildings. The buildings have semi-octagonal projections on both sides with two small rooms on either side. The rooms have semi-circular arches to enter and it is difficult to visualize its former shape. The main features of the buildings are its niches and arches at the roof-level on the semi-octagonal projections, though difficult to make out.
Today, Chawri Bazaar is a very busy road as labourers with their laden backs, cars, rickshaws, scooters and walkers almost battle for the passage during the peak market hours. Again it is also a wholesale market but you will be allowed to purchase a brass or copper idol of LordVishnu,Buddha and others. The shops also keep many useful items like jewellery boxes, vases, pots and oil lamps. However, at present Chawri Bazar is more known as the wholesale market of paper products than copper or brass. From beautiful wedding cards to attractive wallpapers to nice greetings to any type of paper required for any use, everything is available here.[citation needed]
Chawri Bazar is a road which hasJama Masjid on one end and Hauz Quazi on the other end. Now, there is a metro station at Hauz Quazi by the name ofChawri Bazar. Nai Sarak, which is famous for Books and Ladies' Garments, joins it at Bad-shah Bulla. Besides Nai Sarak, there is another way through Ballimaran which connects Chawri bazar toChandni Chowk.