Janpath

 

Here you get to do the best of street shopping. You will mostly find small kiosks selling all kinds of cotton clothes and curios. The clothes are generally export-surplus garments and are sold dirt-cheap. There's lots of silver and artificial jewellery studded with semi-precious stones. Refugees who came after the Partition and Tibetans who came when China invaded Tibet settled here as traders. Shopping here requires a couple of skills. One, you must have the ability to distinguish the fake from the genuine. Two, you must know and practice the art of bargaining patiently.

The Tibetan Market, near Hotel Imperial is a storehouse of curios and Tibetan artefacts. You can shop for some silver jewellery, thangkhas and brassware.

Across the road here are a few well-known shops. The Central Cottage Industries Emporium, a Government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Textiles, is housed in the Jawahar Vyapar Bhavan. Envisaged as a showcase of the creations of Indian craftsmen, weavers and folk artists, it has been a favourite with customers in India and the world over. It remains open on all days from 10am to 7pm.

Cooke & Kelvey at Scindia House is admired by the elites in India and abroad. The fabulous designs are articulately executed to produce exquisite heavy kundan sets, maangtika and sherwani buttons that are breathtakingly gorgeous. In the same building, you will also find Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri (TBZ). Here one can find a varied range of traditional and innovative designer jewellery in gold and diamonds, certified solitaire diamonds and hallmarked jewellery. Its clients include generations of high-profile families.