HEADLINES:  

LAJPAT NAGAR MARKET

Lajpat Nagar is an opulent outlying area situated in South Delhi near the Ashram Chowk. This is one of the most popular shopping areas in Delhi and it exactly portrays the picture of a typical Indian bazaar. Lajpat nagar bazaar is one place where people can find anything and everything under the sun. Lajpat Nagar is once again a lonely planet by itself which can be convinced as a one stop shop where the shopaholics can find whatever they wish. Lajpat Nagar is named after Lala Lajpat Rai who is popularly known as the Lion of Punjab. It was in the year 1950 that Lajpat Nagar was advanced or elaborated to a specified degree with most of its early residents being the Hindus and the Sikhs who migrated from the newly formed Pakistan to the east after the partition of India in 1947.

These groups of people who settled in the Lajpat area mentioned this place as cheap cantonment or the cheap colony. The suburb of this area was divided into four zones namely Lajpat Nagar I, II, III which formed the north of the Ring Road and IV which took the south part of the Ring Road. This one portion of the Lajpat Nagar was named by Mr. B.N. Puri in 1957 after Maharishi Dayanand Saraswathi.The Purana Quila in Lajpat Nagar earlier had lot of refugee camps which assigned plots for the people in and around the vicinity of Lajpat Nagar like Patel Nagar and Rajendra Nagar. The plots granted were just about 15x60 feet and was constructed using materials like army barracks and all hammered with asbestos roofing.

Though now we can see most of the buildings here to be multi-storyed initially they were all single storey. The Lajpat Nagar colony also had an ashram in the name of Kasturba the purpose of which is to mainly house a refugee camp for the Bengali widows. Some of the main housing colonies in and around Lajpat Nagar are Amar Colony, Dayanand Colony, Nirmal Puri, National Park and Vikram Vihar. Most of the leading car accessories and clothing market falls under the Lajpat Nagar zone I which is in South Delhi. Lajpat Nagar second zone is also known for its Central market which is always filled with crowd. This place has number of shops dealing with readymade garments and textiles.

Lajpat Nagar Gives a Typical View of the Indian Bazaar

The colony falls partially under the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency and part of it is in the South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. Lajpat Nagar gives a typical view of the Indian bazaar which has a number of roadside stalls, shops, food kiosks, and Tibetan momo and mehendi sellers, applying intricate henna designs on outstretched palms. The Lajpat Nagar remains closed on Mondays and the rest of the days are filled with alluring crowd and sounds of people bargaining. Lajpat Nagar has local railway station where one can board the Multiple Unit train which carries us to the other parts of Delhi.

Most of the shops in Lajpat Nagar will always have some sale or the other exhibiting a wide array of artwork and crockery on sale, as well as clothing, shoes and accessories. Another one reason why the Lajpat Nagar market is always crowded is that it is stuck in between the two most prime real estate areas of South Delhi namely the Greater Kailash and South Extension. Thus the Lajpat Nagar market witnesses people belonging to all strands of society and gets extremely busy on weekends. One additional and main feature which is required to shop in the Lajpat Nagar is the strength of bargaining hard.

Lajpat Nagar - One of the Oldest Markets in India:

Lajpat Nagar being one of the oldest markets in India houses a variety of shops which includes all kinds of traditional Indian outfits like simple kurtas, tunics, intricate saris and Punjabi suits. They not only deal with ready-mades but also textiles including fabrics which can be further tailor- made. Lajpat Nagar is not only known for shopping of textiles but also includes other things like accessories, footwear, bags, etc. Some of the most notable shops in this area include the Hakoba range which is meant for its hakoba work in its saris and salwar kameez and also on kurtis for both men and women. This shop also sells eyelet embroidery clothes. There is a shop exclusively meant for Lucknowi embroidery which is mostly done only with white color threads. This Luknow embroidery makes the person astonishing for its work and its extreme fineness of the work.

A change in the attitude of men dressing up is brought about by Karan & Nasir which is exclusively a shop meant for men. RCKC has sculpt a niche for in the names of various brands and labels like Anamika and RISA both in the national and the international market.Abhijeet Kahnna is the designer for these brands. A brainchild of Saurabh Mehta, Samaira boasts a wide variety of designs that define femininity with simple styles. Lajpat Nagar also has number of shops which deal with home furnishing and other glittering showrooms. When it comes to textile, Lajpat Nagar not only has traditional exquisite and ethnic Indian wear but also trendy and latest designs of Western wear.

Interesting Facts about the Lajpat Nagar Market

The shoppers can find varieties of the same things like clothes, foot wear and bags both in huge glittering showrooms and as well as on the roadside shops. People who regularly visit Lajpat Nagar know how hard it is to bargain to make their buy a very cheap one. Other interesting facts about the Lajpat Nagar market apart from its shopping are the Mehandiwalas who are quite famous here and they are especially skilled in tinting the hands of the people in the traditional Indian style. In earlier days mehandi was only applied for occasions but now it has become more of a fashion where young girls and women of all age groups adorn themselves with the intricate designs of mehendi.

Car Accessories and Clothing are Mainly Found:

The four different areas of Lajpat Nagar concentrate in a variety of specific goods. Car accessories and clothing's are mainly found in the areas in and around Lajpat Nagar I. Whereas the Central market, some of the local restaurants and most of the home decor units are situated in Lajpat Nagar II. The famous TDI mall in Lajpat Nagar III is very famous for it houses the 3Cs Cineplex and other notable food outlets like Sagar Ratna, Chopsticks Express, McDonalds, The Street Foods of India and The Bakers Street. The Amar colony has a special market for the ladies suits ranging from Rs. 200 to Rs. 50,000. This colony is situated in Lajpat Nagar IV. Shehnai is one of the famous shop for readymade salwar suits situated in the Central market.

Kinston is a sleek footwear shop in Lajpat which has a wide range of footwears including slippers, sandals and shoes. Though the market is always seen in complete disorder and confusion the shops are organized where clothes are in one cluster, kitchenware in one corner, costume jewellery in one lane, puja (prayer) paraphernalia in one pocket, and footwear in shops lined up in a row. The home furnishing shops have a wide display of different varieties of home furnishing like bed linen, curtains, table cloth, bath mats, shower curtains and a number of various other furnishing items. Apart from the above there are curious other little things sold in the streets which will make us loose our heart like old and used perfume and wine bottles in different eye catching shapes.

Number of Gift Shops for Surprising the Loved Ones:

Ceramic pots, urns, artificial flowers and curtains in fabrics and beads are the few other things which get in the list of shopping unplanned. But still they brighten up the day. There are number of gift shops for surprising the loved ones with amazing gifts, dry fruits shops and tailors on the pavement for altering the clothes, stationery for kids, etc. Anybody visiting Lajpat will never miss out on Giani's Ice Creams, Indian-Chinese eateries, Tibetan momos, street-side vending of Ram Laddus which are nothing but the green gram deep fried fritters provided along with green chutney, golgappas water-balls and chuski crushed ice or slush flavored with thick syrups and kala-khatta, made from jamun fruit are some of the favorites of the natives of Delhi.

Connectivity to other parts of the City :

The Delhi metro is an upraised station which is situated on the Metro's Violet Line and was opened to the public along with the initial section of the Violet line. This station is located between the Jangpura and Moolchand stations. There is also a railway line passing through the North which is most commonly used for freight trains. Lajpat Nagar market is not only crowded by people from the country but also by other Non -residents of India like Afghanistan, Pakistan and African countries. The Lajpat Nagar is also connected to the other part of the city by the Delhi Transport Corporation bus services and the Delhi Mass Rapid Transit System.

Route no. 543 connects East Delhi Anand Vihar to Lajpat Nagar, and Teevr Mudrika connects Lajpat Nagar to the North (Rohini) and West Delhi Punjabi Bagh. Situated in the vicinity of the Lajpat Nagar market is another famous market place for shopping, Kalkaji which falls more towards the South Delhi. There is rail facility from Kalka Mandir to the Lajpat nagar market place.