Here's Our Corridor-Wise Guide To Shankar Market, CP's Lesser-Known Busy Marketplace

Shankar Market is one of the oldest local markets in central Delhi & was set up a couple of years before Independence. It comprises of 110 shops on the ground floor, 53 stalls & 53 commercial flats on the upper floor. Situated right in the centre of Delhi, it is one of the most easily accessible markets.

Get off at the Barakhamba Road Metro Station - hop, skip & jump and there you are in Shankar Market. This market gives you a snug, warm feeling as against the cold-shouldered upmarket Connaught Place (CP). This market lazily wakes up at 11 AM & peak hours are from 2 PM-4 PM, shutting down at 8:30 PM. It may not be a brand savvy market, however, shopping in this seven-corridor market gives one a feeling of moving from one Verandah to another.

Corridor 1: Specialities Of Sorts

The market begins with Parashar Foods famous for its Rajma Chawal. It is a superb, economical joint which satisfies the hunger pangs of all the hurried office-goers in the vicinity at lunch hour. In spite of the rush at lunch hour, the lightning speed at which the service is rendered is something that you need to see for yourself!

Next, you must visit the Lucknow Sewa Emporium (Shop# 12) which has beautiful Chikan kurtas with intricate designs & embroidery. Another prominent shop in the first corridor is ‘Eastern Opticals’, the only eye wear shop in this market; it has a wide variety of frames & lenses to suit every face & pocket.

Corridor 2: Fabrics, Fabrics & More Fabrics

Moving on to the next corridor, the prominent shops are ‘Tarachand & Sons’ and ‘Matching Centre’ both of which have a wide variety of dress materials. ‘Matching Centre’, true to its name, has numerous fabrics, shades & hues of just about any colour that you are on the lookout for!

This corridor also boasts of shops with a wide range of export fabrics, such as ‘International Prints’ and ‘Motilal & Sons’ that sell fabrics in “thaans”, suitable for both upholstery & dress materials - needless to say there is always a horde of women at these shops, bargaining hard for the best price.

Corridor 3: The Highlight

The attention-catcher in the third corridor is ‘Attractions’ a leading pet shop where you can buy all the luxuries for your pets to spoil them! There are two Chappal (footwear) shops – ‘Adarsh’ & ‘La Bella’ which offer footwear at budget prices.
‘Joyce Handlooms’ (Shop# 49) & ‘Hunar’ (Shop# 50) stand out for their ethnic cotton wear. Both these shops have an elite & loyal clientele - Nafisa Ali & Maneka Gandhi, to name a few.

‘Chunri Emporium’ has a huge variety of dupattas ranging from plain cottons to wedding wear. Then, there is ‘Chawla Fancy Store’ (Shop# 40) which has an amazing collection of buttons, laces, gota kinaris, motifs, filigree laces & silk borders. Also present is an interesting shop loyal to winter wear in this corridor which sells only woollens throughout the year.

Corridor 4: For The Book Lovers

Corridor 4 boasts of ‘Vimal Prints’, ‘Fashion House’ & ‘Memsahib’, which has the finest selections of ladies formal wear suits. There are also shops for book lovers as well - ‘Sharma Book Depot’ & ‘Piccadilly’ offer a wide range of fiction & nonfiction books for Rs 100-200 only – here you can even sell your secondhand books - right from Plato to Paulo Coelho,  that too at a discount of 10%-80 % on the cover price!

Corridors 5 & 6: Tailor Away

A prominent shop in Corridor 5 is ‘Pretty Woman’ which specialises in undergarments & nightwear. Corridor 6 is the tailoring hub - Mehfooz Tailor stands out as one of the best ones here & has a waiting period of at least one month - so do plan well in advance to have your suits stitched in time.

Corridor 7: Last But Not The Least

When hungry, rush to ‘Nirula Paneer' which delivers the best quality paneer in all of Delhi. The paneer varieties offered here are plain, Jeera, Masala etc.

There are also various roadside vendors found at Shankar Market besides many back-lane shops of Chunri dyers, meat shops & freight forwarder offices, so explore away!

Where | Shankar Market, CP