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LAAD BAZAAR-HYDERABAD

Laad bazaar also known as Choodi bazaar is supposed to be one among the oldest market of Hyderabad. The bazaar gets its name from the word "Laad" which means lacquer, a kind of material from which the bangles are made and hence as the name suggests this place is quite popular among the natives of Hyderabad for its bangles and other ornamental embellishments.

The history of the Laad bazaar is very ancient dating back to the period of the Nizams. Laad bazaar is situated on one of the four roads which branches off from the Charminar. These four roads branching off from Charminar are said to reflect the culture, prayer, history and indulgence converge of the city of Hyderabad.

At Laad bazaar apart from bangles one can also go in for the purchase of artificial jewellery, silverwares, saris, Kalamkari paintings, antiques, traditional Khara dupattas, spices, brocaded fabrics, perfumes and much more. Laad bazaar is always bustling with crowd and it depicts not only the history of Hyderabad but also clearly gives us the picture of where the culture is thrived from. According to a story it is also stated that the bazaar was set up by the ruler Mohammad Quli Qutab Shah at the time of his daughter's wedding and the bazaar was mainly for the guests who were coming to attend the wedding. The bazaar was named after his daughter Laad. Even today most of the Muslim people who are getting married come here to the Laad bazaar to buy their wedding accessories.

It has become a part of their wedding culture. The Laad bazaar is the one and only largest bazaar of its kind for and stone bangles in the entire country. Women belonging to different culture come to Laad bazaar to buy their chime of pleasingly smooth and musical to hear lac bangles. But Laad Bazaar is no place for the onlooker tourist looking for keepsakes. Thus Laad bazaar is an ideal place for those who wish to travel and live like a local. This is not only the feature of Laad bazaar but most of the bazaar in the city has the same character as this market. Most of the shops inside the bazaar are very old which has been for decades and in fact a few of them are here in the Laad bazaar for centuries where it is a common sight to witness three generations of men running a store.

Bangle Accessories From the Laad Bazaar

It is a very notable feature that Laad bazaar is the only place in the whole country where we can spot more than 40 bangle shops enclosed in one area. Not only the show -cased store of the Laad bazaar but also the mobile push carts and street side vendors also display an overwhelming and startling variety of bangles. Laad bazaar offers bangles of different varieties and rates where one can buy based on the weight of his or her pocket can buy bangles ranging from Rs.6 to Rs.10, 000. There are bangles even for a new born. The film industry buys most of its bangle accessories from the Laad bazaar. In fact the Laad bazaar is a favorite spot of the celebrities as well.

Enthusiastic and interested hosts, the shop keepers will strike conversations with a short amusing or interesting story like the ones about the slim gold and silver bangles made of hollow glass. So light weight are the bangles that the locals state or assert that a sneeze can send them shooting six feet in the air and a laugh can blow them eight feet away. Fond of their trade, most of them have assigned a name to each bangle variety with interesting rhythmic names like Jeena Teri gali mein- living in your streets and Shehensha kada- King of bangles. Laad bazaar is one place where we get mesmerized with the shimmer and gleam of the bangles. Most of the lac bangles are expensive because each bangle is designed with an unique pattern and mostly they are hand- crafted.

Making of the Lac Bangles:

It can be noticed that most of the lac bangle makers who have been in this business for more than decades will not have any craftsmen employed working on it but instead members of the family itself act as the crafts people and doing business for generations. It is a feeling of happy satisfaction and delight to even look and wear the lac bangles where each one is studded with tens, hundreds or even thousands of shiny colored bright stones. It is not an easy process to get the end product so beautiful and eye-catching for the making is time-consuming and delicate. It we are really interested and wish to see how the bangles are made then we can request the shop keeper in a humble way so that the shopkeeper takes you to the workshop to show the making of the lac bangles.

In fact in most of the shops have their workshop functioning right behind itself. Though the lac bangles monopolize the focus of the public attention in the market, in reality Laad Bazaar is not about what you can buy there. It is more of the experience of life in that lane, for it is here that you will find true-blue locals who wear their patrimony like an antiquated couture costumes. Also most of the shops keepers at Laad bazaar are very cordial, well mannered and decorous coming forward to strike conversations to the strangers and even go to the extent of offering refreshment and share a nibble of their lives. So most of the people who come from other parts of the country and the foreigners who come to the Laad bazaar apart from carrying the bangles also carry back their pleasant memories of this market place.

Semi Precious Stones or Pearls Decorated Ones

So apart from purchasing of bangles if we are particular about experiencing Hyderabad's culture of hospitality, Laad Bazaar should be our destination of choice.Laad bazaar which is supposed to be nearly 400 years old has a number of small and narrow lanes which are always crowded and busy with shopkeepers calling out to potential customers. This is one of the must to visit market in Hyderabad and if we have decided to visit then we need pull up our socks and brush up on our bargaining skills.

Apart from lac bangle shopping Laad bazaar is also noted for its jewellery shopping like earrings, necklace and bracelets with glitters and gleams everywhere we turn around. Most of the jewelery items sold in Laad bazaar are either studded with semi precious stones or pearls decorated ones. It is a very uncommon factor for a girl or a woman to say no to jewels especially the colorful bangles sold in this bazaar.

Handmade Articles of Silk are also sold here:

At Laad bazaar we can also find shops selling khara dupattas, embroidered with zardozi works, and the famous natural attar perfumes. The rates of these products when compared to an upscale store will beat a much cheaper rate. If we are ready to elbow our way through the crowds and all set to bargain then we are sure to win a fair deal of whatever we buy from the Laad bazaar. Laad bazaar is also known for its artificial diamonds and pearls. This is a place where we can also do shopping like handmade articles of silk, cotton, velvet, brocades, etc. Hyderabad being the Pearl City and one of the largest pearl trading hubs in the world we can find different varieties of pearls ranging from a few hundred rupees to lacs of rupees.

Many business tactics are followed by the shop keepers like they even place an employee outside their shops who make gestures with the hand, arm, or head to encourage the shoppers to visit their shop. Most of the shops in the Laad bazaar are furnished with a clean, soft, cotton mattress that covers the entire floor thus enabling the customers to sit on the mattress and lean against the wall with a round pillow in a comfortable manner while the seller presents the items on the floor. Apart from the Lac bangles which is the specialty of the Laad bazaar there are also other bangles of varying makes like glass, metal, brass and silver bangles which are also the specialty of Laad bazaar.