Any excursion is never complete without shopping and the same holds true for Delhi too. It is just impossible to visit Delhi and stop yourself from getting tempted to shop, provided you have not already burnt hole in your pocket. Delhi city provides a range of product to buy. From handicrafts to clothes, art-crafts to paintings, shoes to embroidery items, statues to antiques; you name it and Delhi has it. The must buys items are antiques and mementoes. Clothes are very cheap in Delhi and you get a range of clothes from tunic to cotton. Embroidery items are readily available and are worth buying as gifts.
Where to shop? Delhi has got a platter of options right from Old bustling bazaars to sprawling shopping malls. The old bazaars are a great place to shop if you are a Jew at bargaining. Most of these bazaars are located in the walled city area with a couple of them in New Delhi too. The Sadar Bazaar is the most famous among them. This market is famous for leather, commodity and ironware. Equally important is Ballimaran that is famous for shoes and spectacles. Karol Bagh is the last name in clothes and jewelry. There are large showrooms dedicated to these items. Dariba Kalan is a great place to by statues and antiques. Apart from these, in the New Delhi area you have Greater Kailash and South Extension market to buy branded items. Apart from these you have Lajpat Nagar market that has items mostly dedicated to women. Yaswant Place is great for leather goods and Underground Palika market for DVD and Video Games.
As far as shopping malls are concerned, there are many of them in New Delhi and surrounding areas of NCR (National Capital Region). One of the most famous shopping malls in Delhi is Ansal Plaza in South Extension. The place has a good ambience and has stores dedicated to all the major brands in India. Apart from this, you have Center stage Mall in adjoining Noida and Pacific Mall at Ghaziabad that are very popular among the inhabitants. These malls are the right place to shop for if you are a naïve at bargaining.
What to Buy in Delhi
Delhi is a hub for shopping. If you are a shopping freak then Delhi is a place to be. The place is a one-stop destination to buy clothes, antiques, mementoes, handicrafts and what not. It is said that," it is not Delhi that has many bazaars but it is bazaars that has a Delhi in between". The statement is not at all an exaggeration.
The shopping hub is Old Delhi area. Start with clothes and you have Karol Bagh, the largest cloth market in the country. You can by any type of clothes right from a well-dyed Tunic to well-spun cotton. The area is famous for traditional Indian attires such as Jodhpuri and Sherwani. You can pick any one of them but keep in mind that these items have heavy embroidery works on them and are really heavy. You can also shop for saris here. There are good studios displaying variety of saris, choose any one of them. Go for Banarsi Silk if you want something exclusive. A visit to Delhi can't be complete without buying Khadi material. The best place is the government emporium at the Regal building near Connaught Palace.
In antiques, the cheap, best and the authentic shops are situated in various alleys of the walled city. The best are in Dariba Kalan. You can buy anything from old statues to silverwares. The Astadhatu statues are very expensive but are things to keep. If you are short on cash then go for silver wares and wood antiques. Don't miss to buy 1920 build HMV Gramophone. Then you have bangles in the Dariba Kalan and embroidered shoes in Ballimaran. These are a must buy.
For handicrafts, there are many options in your kitty. The best is the series of shops near the Connaught Place known as state emporiums. These emporiums have handicrafts items from the respective states. These are authentic and cheap; moreover the money earned is invested in the emancipation of the craftsmen. You also have the famous Delhi Haat for buying handicrafts items. Go there only if you are a Jew at bargaining.
