Friday, May 22, 2009

Chawri Bazar


The Chawri Bazar Metro Station in old Delhi could be a unique experience for any visitor to the city. From modern and state of art infra-structure of the underground Metro to emerge amidst old spectacle of Delhi could be a mind-blowing experience. Areas like Chawri Bazaar, Nai Sarak, Dariyaganj all surrounding the spectacular Jama Mosque is old but vibrant. The area is a major business hub for books, paper products, brass and copper. In baffling milieu of the Chawri Bazaar, people, rickshaws, porters, men, children, women, tourists and even cows jostle for way.

Once popularly known for its bewitching dancing girls in the 19th century, the street is named after a Marathi word 'chawri', which means meeting place. The street got this name mainly because here a 'sabha' or meeting would take place in front of a noble's house and he would try settling the disputes before it would reach the emperor. 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 the 1857 war when British destroyed many huge mansions of the nobles.

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