The best place in the Golden Triangle for quality and variety, with plenty of opportunities to buy at fair prices.
The first thing needed is a car and veteran chauffer who can show you Delhi like no other , Swan Tours – a leading travel agents in India offers Delhi Sightseeing Tour by Car at reasonable prices. The information on some of the activities covered during the tour are as below.
The government-run Central Cottage Industries Emporium at Jawhar Vyapar Bhawan on Janpath is the perfect all-India craft department store with everything from picnic hampers and Kashmiri lacquer ware to furnishing fabrics and inlaid chess boards. Departments are devoted to different states; a rainbow of fabrics dazzles; ordering goods to be specially made or shipped is possible, too.
Singh Marg, off Connaught Place (so-called government approved shops elsewhere are suspect and the ubiquitous Kashmiri CIE chain is very expensive). Ones for Gujarat, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu are all excellent.
For fine silk and cotton weaves, the government emporia arc hard to beat. But for khadi, the rough hand-spun and hand-woven cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi, Khadi Gramodyog Bhawan at 24 Regal Building is the place. The fine chikan (white embroidery on white muslin) made by the Tandon family of Lucknow are sold at their shops in the rabbit warren Palika Bazar under Connaught Place and at Hauz Khas village. Antiques abound in Sundar Nagar Square, where shops such as Bharany and Kumar sell wood, brass bronze, silver etc, and will supply certificates for objects less than 100 years old. This is also the place for contemporary silver.
To buy something made in Delhi, go to Old Delhi. Traditional gold and silver jewellery is found in Dariba Kalan, off Chandni Chowk, while Gulab Singh Johri Mal is the attar (perfume) shop, and the den-like shops of nearby Kinari Bazar stock every accessory for an Indian celebration.
Delhi is the place to find Western designs at a fraction of Western prices. The deluxe hotels stock quality goods which range from clothes and shoes to briefcases, jewellery and books. The Taj Mahal, Maurya Sheraton, Taj Palace and Ashok shops are so good that discerning locals patronize them. Both Taj hotels and the Ashok have well-priced books but a limited range. Other hotel bookshops have a 25% mark up, or more, so it is worth going to a bookstore in town (see Practical Shopping, page 236). In town, Connaught Circus has The Shop in the Regal Building (household goods and clothes), shoe shops with fashionable Western designs such as Metro in F-Block, and bargain rejects or fashion copies at the stalls along Janpath, (check carefully for faults) and nearby Tibetan Market for jewellery. Further out, Fabindia, 14-N Greater Kailash I was the pioneer in quality Western goods. Two areas in and very near the city centre have especially good shops. Santushti Shopping Complex, opposite the Samrat Hotel, has high design clothes and Anokhi from Jaipur. At Hauz Khas village the many boutique and craft shops include Ogaan, full high quality fashion and home furnishings. On Sundays, all shops in South Extension Part II are open. Moreover, chains such as Benetton have Indian franchises selling quality goods at half the European price. In Mehrauli, near the Qutab M inar, is the ultra chic Qutab Colonnade with its handpicked, exclusive boutiques like The Neemrana Shop, and restaurant, The Tamarind Court.
Delhi, Agra and Jaipur form a beautiful travel triangle, which is extremely popular with both India and foreigners, further information visit golden triangle tour packages.