A Walk Through Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi

Across the street from the Red Fort lies Chandni Chowk, an area completely dedicated to shopping, trading and eating. While the Red Fort offers tranquillity, Chandni Chowk is its opposite. It is an enormous area, packed with all sorts of shops, bazaars, people of all kinds. The main street offers all kinds of shops, and it overflows with all kinds of traffic. But you can also dive into the alleys that branch off on all sides. Wherever you go, it bustles, boils, is full of sounds and smells, in one word: it is exciting!

Apart from walking around to take in the wares of the silversmiths, bicycle repair shops, washing machine outlets, wedding dresses, food outlets, and almost anything else you could think of, it is also great to just stop somewhere and let the frenzy go by. I stood on the central reserve of the road from where you get a close view of the traffic. The serious, sweaty faces of the bicycle-rickshaw drivers driving with heavy loads behind their backs, women walking by with their colourful saris whirling behind them like a flag, cows walking the street, salesmen trying to lure you into their shop.

Crossing the street brings you back to the sheer excitement of the shouts of salesmen, a boy pushing a heavy cart warning people in his way, people negotiating over a deal. As soon as you go into the narrow alleys, the hustle diminishes. Here, you can find small, quiet shops selling silver, an old lonely man selling mangoes on the street, monkeys running on the roofs. Chandni Chowk also boasts a temple and a mosque, among other sights, but the main attraction, according to me, is the endless theatre of every day life that unfolds right under your eyes. Source-Wikipedia

Chandni Chowk, meaning Silvery, Moonlit Square, once had a canal running through it. Laid out in 1648, it was Shahjahanabad’s most elegant boulevard lined with mansions and grand shops. Foreign tourists flock to Jami Masjid, the largest mosque in India and positioned to one end of Chandni Chowk. Tightly packed stalls selling everything from jewelry, clothes, shoes and more line the current day alleys and lanes. Behind every corner, travelers can find shops tucked behind another bend where only pedestrians could possibly fit.

The best way to explore the area used to be catching a taxi or tuk-tuk to Red Fort and then transferring to a cycle rickshaw. Unfortunately, the Delhi High Court placed a ban, May 2006, on the use of cycle rickshaws within Chandi Chowk. Just a year later, in May 2007, this was ban was formally challenged but suffice to say the master plan of Delhi is seen without cycle rickshaws. These days, set off with comfortable walking shoes. Congestion, shopping, eating and general sightseeing will have you on your feet constantly.