Old Delhi is bursting with history and with contemporary-day activity. Built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the mid-1600s as a walled city called Shahjahanabad,it served as the capitals empire from then until the British Raj gained supremacy in 1857. Though India’s current center of government rests a few miles south in original Delhi, Old Delhi has stood the test of time as a center of commerce. The street of Khari Baoli might be the most lively and fascinating piece of Old Delhi. It is certainly the most pungent, and because it hosts one of the worlds largest wholesale spice markets. The myriad (a very large number) bright and wonderful spices that enliven Indian cooking are displayed in large mounds and traded in giant sacks. Walking through the market is an experience in itself,but it is hard to find a vantage point from which to survey its full glory.
The rooftop of the Khari Baoli wholesale spice market, also known as Gadodia Market, and provides this perspective. The market is a multistory rectangular building built in the 1930s around a large courtyard by a wealthy merchant named Seth Lakshmi Narain Gadodia. Its architecture is intricate,with large chattris [domed pavilions] at each corner of the roof as well as complex balconies and arched doorways on lower stories. The rooftop is free to access and provides expansive views of the street markets, the stunning Fatehpuri Masjid mosque, or on clear days even the Red Fort. In the morning and around sunset,it is an ideal place to relax and watch life disappear by in one of the world’s most historic cities. While the roof is an oasis of silent in Old Delhis din, it also plays host to its own lively rhythms. Boys and young men coast kites from it, and merchants expend the space to dry spices and vegetables. Calls to prayer from the nearby mosque wash over it. Traveling vendors from other states also expend the courtyard and roof as a place to rest or sleep. It is a living piece of the city’s history.
According to the original Indian Express,the spice trade lost most of its trade during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdown. Future visitors can help maintain this incredible place which combines the past and present.
Source: atlasobscura.com