Market Building

Chaotic yet colourful, cramped yet vibrant and noisy yet appealing! This is what defines Market Building—one of the oldest shopping destinations of the city. It is a place which defines the city’s character—a shopping psychology woefully absent in the new flamboyant malls cropping up in the capital. The roads leading to it are filled with garment shops set up on footpaths where you can get apparels for all ages and seasons at a great value for money. There are two facets to this place. One is the brick and mortar shops like traditional outlets of Kalaniketan, Queen’s Collection, Kalamandir, Narula Cloth House, M Bazaar and Priyadarshini selling authentic garments of the highest quality along with budget shops like Kolkata Bazaar, Vishal Megamart and plethora of other small shop establishments including medicines, grocery, stationery, opticals, sports etc. The other facet is the street vendors. They used to occupy almost every available empty space in Market Building. Recent changes by the municipal corporation have shifted them to a more organized area at either end of the market. The middle row is now beautifully set up with wooden benches, plants and lamp posts. People love to hang out here among the hustle and bustle of the evening market. A heaven for street food lovers—Market Building offers mouth-watering paani puri (gupchup), dahi bara-alu dum (odia delicacy), chaats, pau bhaji carts and ice cream and milk shake stations. Narula’s Kulfi—a small shop in front of the famous Narula Cloth Store sells delectable sticks of paan, black current and litchi flavour. Apart from this, it is also a mecca for bargain shopping. More often than not, the physical stores have fewer customers than the street hawkers where you can hear constant cacophony of haggling customers trying to get the best price. From all kinds of household items to bangles, ear rings, belts, clips and nose rings, you can find almost everything here. Variety is the hallmark of Market Building and is more frequented by the prettier gender.