Old Delhi's bazaars, lane by lane

Old Delhi is not one market but a knot of specialist lanes, each selling one kind of thing in bulk. Spices in one street, silver in the next, wedding trims round the corner. Most of these lanes branch off Chandni Chowk, the main street laid out in the 1650s. This guide walks through seven of them, says what each is known for, and lists the pieces in the Taj Bazaar catalog that come from or are sold in each. Prices are in US dollars with duties included on retail orders to the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia.

The lanes at a glance

Khari Baoli: the spice market

Khari Baoli has traded spices since the 17th century, and the lanes are lined with sacks of chilli, turmeric and dry fruit. Our stone-ground garam masala is blended and ground by a third-generation spice house there and packed within a week of grinding. The Khari Baoli Dry Fruit & Spice Box ($39, packed to order in 10 days) holds cashews, raisins, dried figs, green cardamom and saffron in a mango-wood box, the way Delhi buys dry fruit for weddings and festivals. More in our Khari Baoli spice market guide.

Chandni Chowk: sweets and snacks

The main street is where Old Delhi eats. Sohan halwa is slow-cooked for hours until it sets into dense, nut-studded discs, a speciality of the old sweet houses. Imli goli ($6) are the sticky sweet-sour tamarind balls sold from glass jars at paan and sweet shops. See the full list in our Chandni Chowk sweets and snacks guide.

Dariba Kalan: silver and attar

A narrow lane of silversmiths and perfumers off Chandni Chowk. The oxidised silver jhumkas are 925 sterling silver made by silversmiths there. The lane's attar shops sell perfume oils distilled in Kannauj; our rose attar ($29, 6 ml) is rose petals hydro-distilled into sandalwood oil.

Kinari Bazaar: trims and festive decor

Wedding trims, gota-patti lace, bangles and festive decor are packed into this one lane. The potli bags are six 6 × 8 in drawstring pouches trimmed with gold gota ribbon from here, and the beaded door toran ($29, 36 in wide) is the hanging that welcomes Lakshmi at Diwali, from its festive stalls.

Chawri Bazaar: brass and copper

Chawri Bazaar sells brass and copper ware, and is also where Delhi's wedding cards are printed. The brass puja thali puts a diya, bell, kumkum bowls and incense stand on one 10 in plate, the kind sold in its metal shops. The 6 in brass Ganesha ($45) is sand-cast in Moradabad and finished by hand.

Nai Sarak and Sadar Bazaar

Nai Sarak is Old Delhi's wholesale street for books and paper. Our handmade paper journal is cotton-rag paper from Sanganer, bound in block-printed covers and sold wholesale there. Sadar Bazaar, one of Delhi's largest wholesale markets, is where the city buys festival decorations: the paper kandeel lantern is the star lantern sold there by the thousand every October, and the rickshaw-art tray ($34, made to order in 15 days) is painted in the lettered style of Delhi's cycle-rickshaws.

Shopping the bazaars from abroad

Every piece above is in US stock and ships in 1–2 days unless it says made to order. For Diwali on 8 November, see the Diwali gifts hub; for the whole bazaar walk with every product, see Streets of Delhi on our homepage.