Mapping of the area

                        MAP ON MUSLIN FABRIC

                                                                                      Photo credits : Sanya Pratap

                MAP ON LIQUOR BOTTLE
                  Photo Credits : Sanya Pratap

Boards

After compiling the micro and macro research for the area, we were asked to create 3 different boards:

Socio- Culture Board This board represents the culture of Chandni Chowk


The Product Board
 This board shows the products purchased from Kinari Bazar


The Visual Board
This board shows the visual representation of Kinari Bazar.

Visuals from my log book

Kinari Bazaar: Budget Shopping Heaven

Kinari Bazaar is a wholesale retail market. Here you will get every thing you need for functional especially for marriage. For any special event, festival people buy beautiful traditional dresses from Kinari Bazaar. For any ceromony - marriage, engagement, anniversary, karwa chauth or other events - you can visit Kinari Bazaar to buy dressing for whole family. For brides, marriage - Kinari Market has special significance. ceremony. They have large reserves Sehra (groom's turban), garlands of beautiful and striking gold and silver coins and crisp, wedding jewelry and other accessories needed for a wedding ceremony. Stores to meet the needs of people belonging to almost all religions. Be it a Hindu wedding or a Christian marriage, the necessary elements are available here. Even the wedding attire can be rented at stores like Bridal Veil, very well designed lehenga, brocade and gold Sherwanis nothing or something that requires a wedding ceremony.
Evening feature some of the most romantic, elegant and beautiful wear perfect for any occasion. Kinari Bazaar is place where you can find almost every thing for Indian Bridal dresses.
Kinari Bazaar is also spelled as Kinari Bazar. Based on success in Delhi, Kinari Bazar in Agra is also set up.

Why Chandni Chowk?

Photo credits: Sanya Pratap

Chandni Chowk is one of the oldest bazaar existing in India today! The attraction here is that one can find almost anything in a small confined market. If at one corner you find painting materials at the next turn you'll find Kurti's and wedding lehengas. Some shops have continued for almost a century there, now, continuously passing down from one generation to another. And people here have tried to maintain the originality. Such strenuous efforts of maintaining their trademark has only surged their popularity. As you walk along, the whole street looks like a show. From coin seller (Centuries old coins) to persistent people who sit on the roadside, digging dirt out of rear for profession, this place is filled with characters. The least one can do to themselves before stepping into this historical place is to be prepared to get stunned. This place is a mixture of religion, place, food, chaos, history, modernity and commerce. The variety of stuff being sold their at different corners around the lanes made me choose Chandni Chowk as my macro area and got me stunned after I started my primary research after visiting the area and talking to people there.

Historical Background.

The history of Chandni Chowk dates back to the foundation of the capital city of Shahjahanabad when the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan established the Red Fort on the banks of the River Yamuna beside his newly founded capital.

Chandni Chowk, or the Moonlight Square, was designed and established by Princess Jahanara, Shah Jahan’s favorite daughter, in 1650 CE. The bazaar, which was shaped as a square, was given further elegance by the presence of a pool in the center of the complex. In particular, the pool shimmered in the moonlight, a feature which

Source: www.chandnichowk.info

was perhaps responsible for the nomenclature of the marketplace. The shops of the complex were originally built in a half-moon shaped pattern, which, for some reason, is lost today. The bazaar was in the time of Shah Jahan, who was famous for its silver merchants. This could also have an important role to play in the nomenclature of the place as silver is referred to as Chandi in Hindi, a word which could have been slightly deformed to form Chandni Chowk.

The pool in the chowk was replaced by a clocktower (Ghantaghar) that existed until the 1950s. The central location of Chandni Chowk is still referred to as Ghantaghar.
Chandni Chowk was once the grandest of the markets in India. In fact, the Mughal imperial processions used to pass through Chandni Chowk. The tradition was continued when Delhi Darbar was held in 1903. Delhi Town Hall was built in 1863 by the British.
Chandni Chowk runs through the middle of the walled city, from the Lahori Gate of the Red Fort to Fatehpuri Masjid. Originally, a canal ran through the middle of the street as a part of the water supply scheme. It was initially divided into three sections:

• Lahori Gate to Chowk Kotwali (near Gurudwara Sis Ganj): This section closest to the imperial residence, was called Urdu Bazar, i.e., the encampment market. The language Urdu got its name from this encampment. Ghalib noted the destruction of this market during the disturbances of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and its aftermath.
• Chowk Kotwali to Chandni Chowk: The term Chandni Chowk originally referred to the square that had a reflecting pool. It was replaced by a clock-tower (Ghantaghar) that was damaged and demolished in the 1950s. This section was originally called Johri Bazar.
• 'Chandni Chowk' to Fatehpuri Masjid: this was called the Fatehpuri Bazar.

Even though today Chandni Chowk appears choked with congestion, it retains its historical character.

www.chandnichowk.info

HOW DID CHANDNI CHOWK GET ITS NAME?
When the famous Mughal Emperor Shahjahan shifted his capital from Agra to Delhi and established the city of Shahjahanabad, he had the majestic Red Fort or Lal Qila, on the banks of River Yamuna. Chandni Chowk was built in 1650 AD as an accompaniment to the fort. It was designed by Jahanara, the Emperor's favorite daughter. A large chowk ("square") with a central pool was built at some distance from the fort.
The story goes that on a moonlit night, the new complex and the pool lay shimmering; as a result, it acquired the name of Chandni Chowk- "the moonlit square".
Another legend says that the Chowk was named after it's silversmiths and there is a confusion of the word 'chandi' (silver) with 'chandni' (moonlit).

A walk through the streets of chandni chowk...

To add one more item to my “Been There, Done that” list, this weekend I covered most famous part of food capital of India, the Chandni Chowk.
After Delhi Metro’s arrival to this most famous and oldest place in Delhi, It has become much easier for anybody to come here. So I also took the same to reach here from Rajouri Garden (taken metro from Dwarka station) .
As soon as you enter Chandni Chowk streets, you feel like its a different world (specially if you are coming from city of malls). This place is a mixture of religion, food, chaos, history, modernity, tradition and commerce. People moving fast here and there in narrow lanes. On every corner you will find something special to eat.

Most of the shops in Chandni Chowk are handed over from father to son, most of them now being managed by the fourth or fifth generations. There are examples of halwais, namkeenwalahs, paranthewalahs and many others. Every shop has its own specialty.

Source: www.chandnichowk.info

Source: www.chandnichowk,info

Among the most visited places for food there is The Famous Paranthe Wali Gali, Natraj's Dahi Bhalle, Old Delhi's most famous culinary destination : Karim's, Old Jalebi Wala, Giani's Rabdi-Faluda and many more...

Photo Credits: Sanya Pratap

And with this, I have covered the most important landmarks around Chandni Chowk. We have not mentioned any of the markets or religious places, because that’s something I will take up in another post. And if you are planning to explore the area yourself, make sure you visit Chandni Chowk!