Cloth Market, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi

At the outer periphery of Chandni Chowk in close proximity to Old Delhi Railway Station is a huge cloth market which sells almost all kinds of cloth items at wholesale rates. Huge variety and attractive prices. This place is a shoppers paradise.

Location of Cloth Market

Taking Kake Di Hatti as a landmark, as we move further down Church Mission Road towards St Stephen’s Church, the cloth market comes to your left side. It consists of a network of lanes and bylanes, very narrow and lined up with cloth shops. The entire rectangle of cloth market is divided into small sections like Ram Bazar, Ganesh Bazar, Krishna Bazar, Tilak Bazar and so on.

There is no information whatsoever of who when why or how to about Cloth Market. So if you need a guide, better look for some local person from Delhi who is a veteran shopper of Old Delhi or Delhi – 6. Else go out on a journey of discovery and have your part of fun and learning.

How to reach there

Best way to reach the cloth market is take the Delhi Metro and get down at Chandni Chowk Metro station. You can either emerge at the Chandni Chowk Road end or go all the way to Old Delhi Railway Station end. Either case, you are better off catching an E rickshaw to reach the cloth market. Walking is ok only during the winters and you best save energy for the shopping trip which is walking all the way. If accompanied by the ladies, do not attempt to walk at all. If you need to reach there in your four wheeler, there is a parking space at the entrance of Old Delhi Railway station.

Some important points

Though the market is covered, carry plenty of water to drink.
The shops start closing down by 7 pm.
You need at least three hours to cover the whole market.
Photography is not allowed. One picture is free. More than one picture is chargeable by Rs 500 per picture. They are very worried that customers will copy their design.
Most of the places you need to step inside without your footwear. So recommended option is a nice pair of sandals.
You may bargain if you wish to, but remember this is Delhi. And this a wholesale market.

Except for curtains, this shop practically stocks everything. Prices are much cheaper than others and the sales persons are very helpful and knowledgeable. The first cell phone number on the business card is a Whats App number and the owner is ready to interact with customers on Whats App including sharing of pictures and prices.

Watch out for an update on this space for curtains.

Updated on Sept 2016

Finally visited the biggest shop for curtains in the cloth market. This place mostly deals with raw curtain cloth and its stitching rather than the ready made ones.