Central Kolkata

Burrabazar

The largest wholesale market in eastern India, and the loudest.

Known for
Wholesale everything, Marwari trade, Posta
Best hour
Weekday mornings, and brace yourself
Walk
50 min, 5 stops
Burrabazar

Not a bazaar but a district of them: textiles, spices, paper, hardware, chemicals, sold wholesale from buildings that have been trading since the eighteenth century.

01

Photographs

Photographs of the quarter. Open one to see it full size.

02

Must-see buildings

  • Pareshnath Jain Temple

    1867. Mirror mosaic, Belgian glass, and a lamp that has burned since it opened.

  • Satyanarayan Park

    The market's one open space, and the wholesale flower trade's overflow.

  • Posta

    The riverside wholesale market for potatoes, onions and grain.

  • Mullick Ghat Flower Market

    Under Howrah Bridge. Two thousand traders from four in the morning.

03

Where to eat

  • Ganesh Dhaba

    Burrabazar

    Rajasthani thali, eaten fast, standing if necessary.

  • Tewari Brothers

    Chittaranjan Avenue

    Kochuri, and the best cholar dal in the district.

  • Kachori and jalebi stalls

    Canning Street, before ten

    The trade's breakfast.

04

Things to see

  1. 01

    Pareshnath Jain Temple

    Mirror work, Belgian glass and a garden. Utterly unlike anything else here.

  2. 02

    Mullick Ghat at 4am

    Marigold by the sack, by torchlight, under the bridge.

  3. 03

    A porter on Cotton Street

    Two hundred kilos, on the head, through a crowd.

Where this sits

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27 quarters · pinch or use + / − to zoom

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