A travel guide and tips for visiting Chandni Chowk New Delhi India

Visiting Chandni Chowk, Delhi for the first time? Looking for tips for first-time shoppers to the Chandni Chowk market? This is a narrative experience, with all the sights of the area, of a first-time shopper. It is very easy to reach and access via the Chandni Chowk Metro. Just come out of the Metro entrance and you are bang in the middle of the buzzing shopping hub. 

The metro is near a temple and the lane is also lined with stalls. This is the fabric area. I was interested in clothes shopping so I didn’t venture to the other areas like the lanes where books are sold even by weight or Chowri Bazaar, which now sells paper for all purposes.

I had decided not to take a guide because I believe in solo discovery. I found shops which are really small square units with gaddis (floor beds) for seating as well as stalls that display wares that you see standing. The shops are numbered but it’s quite a task finding a particular shop because there are the main road shops that lead to inner twisting gullies also lined by shops. It is a veritable maze!

In the middle of it all is an arched red gate, built to commemorate the uprisings of 1857 and 1942. The wording on the gate refer to it as the 'Neel Katra Darwaza' (neel = blue/indigo; darwaza = door). It seems that at one time indigo traders were based here. It is unfortunate that it has not been maintained and is in a very delipidated condition. 

There is also the famous Maa Kali temple with a lion sculpture guarding the entrance

Having shopped in Delhi six years ago, I found that in comparison to fabric heaven Nehru Nagar, Chandni Chowk was a disappointment. Most sold full salwar suits, gowns, tops and I found barely two that sold printed fabric. There was one shop that sold men’s suiting fabric of brands like Raymond’s as well as printed material for women’s clothing. Also, as I found after earlier visits to Delhi,  this time the prices seem to have shot through the roof where a printed readymade that I could get in Bombay for half the price was selling at Rs. 550!!

There was only one stall selling printed salwar kameez tops for Rs. 350 but the quality didn’t seem too good. The Chandni Chowk shopping is mainly for those looking for ornate kind of ready-made as everything had some zari, brocade and the like, mainly the kind one would wear for weddings, which meant that those looking for just simple printed outfits for women must look elsewhere. 

There are also many boutiques offering exclusive clothes. The ones in the image below were really lovely.

Once you get over the disappointment of the dust hovering around the entire area because of the metro work and the fact that it’s hard to find how to cross over due to the barrier right down the entire stretch, one can pause to take in the local sights – there are lots of those! 





You will come across tailors with sewing machines on the footpaths, denim being cut from swathes to make jeans, men getting a shave, a cobbler who will shine shoes, old gates (like the one mentioned earlier) and mosques rising out of the chaos. There was even one guy wandering around with his kit to repair shop shutters!

The Tailor

The Shop-shutter repairer

There are share autos and manual cycle rickshaws but with the Metro work on, as it happened with me, a policeman can stroll across and make the main road one way only. 

Autos

Going on foot is best because you can pause and look at whatever you want. There are other shops selling boots and shoes, optical wares as well as many sweetmeat shops. 

For lunch, there is a pure vegetarian eatery (which means no onion and no garlic) VaishnoBhoj for Rs. 200, but you have to climb a small flight of steps. For variety, opt for Haldiram’s because it’s got seating arrangements up a flight of steps and a washroom up another flight of steps. The menu has a variety as there is a North Indian thali but there are South Indian staples like dosas as well. Plus it offers free wi-fi. It’s seen to be more hygienic because the servers wear gloves - if you’re into that sort of thing! The portions are large and it tastes good. They have got the basics right, but it’s functional food at best.

Haldiram's Eatery

If you’re in the mood to roam some more you could, but I just returned home, put off by the high prices and the tendency to add bling on everything as well as the fact that many shops clearly state they sell wholesale and not retail, which means no individual sellers, please.

Hot tip: During summers, you may be advised to go early to avoid the heat but please note that at 10-10:30 am, shops are still opening so it’s best to come around 11:30 am when everything’s up and running.

And stay calm as a quirky message outside a store declared! After all, like in any warren of shops as it is in Chandni Chowk, there is symmetry in all that chaos.