Chandni Chowk, Delhi

I shop (and eat); therefore I am. Visitors to Chandni Chowk, the spectacular bazaar at the heart of Old Delhi, would do well to take on this philosophy before entering the fray and allowing themselves to be swept along in the mile-long melee of buyers, sellers, barterers and gob-smacked first-timers (London’s Oxford Street on Christmas Eve has nothing on this bad boy, take it from us).

To define Chandni Chowk as a market belies its historical and commercial significance, yet at its heart that’s exactly what it is – a living, breathing enterprise,
full of drama and chaos. It’s also one of the most important business hubs in Delhi, not to mention the busiest wholesale market in Asia.

Chandni Chowk was built in the 17 th century by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, and designed by his daughter, Jahanara Begum (her mother was Mumtaz Mahal, in whose memory the Taj Mahal was built). The name is interpreted as either ‘moonlit square ’ or ‘moonlit market’, although both romanticise modern-day Chandni Chowk somewhat. Where once a pool shimmered at the centre of the bazaar around which some 1,500 merchants sold their wares, these days commerce is king. The pool’s long gone and the half-moon arc of shops lost as more businesses spring up.

That’s not to say, however, that the narrow streets don’t retain an old-school charm as they throng with the shouts and chatter of the buyers and sellers. They may have money on their minds, but this is a very long way from Wall Street.