Chor Bazaar

Automobile springs being sold at Chor Bazaar

Barbells for sale at Chor Bazaar

Chor Bazaar (Hindi/Marathi: चोर बाज़ार), located near Bhendi Bazaar in South Mumbai, is one of the largest flea markets in India. The word Chor means "thief" in Hindi-Urdu. Initially, though , it was called Shor Bazaar; Shor in Hindi meaning Noise. The place was noisy and full of chaos. It still remains so. Chor bazar is Mumbai's famous thieve's Market where tourists rummage for Ming vases and Muranos at throwaway prices. The main avenue is Mutton Street, flanked by rows of little antique shops that sell just about anything at bargain prices, including colonial-era lamps, Art Deco clocks and trinkets of every kind. A store called Mini Market also offers old Bollywood posters for sale^[1]. Others offer authentic Victorian furniture, wonderful for browsers, antiquarians and restorers. Although bargains are sometimes staggering, haggling is considered mandatory^[2]. This area can be considered one of the tourist attractions of Mumbai.

This is basically an "organized" flea market, where one has to rummage through junk and hopefully find treasures. The reason it is known as "thieves market", is because it is assumed that goods sold there are stolen. Chor Bazaar is off the beaten path, but everyone knows about it. It is basically a maze of alleys.

The largest flea market opens on every Friday and the days proceedings end only by the evening Muslim prayers i.e. Magrib. This is one of the reasons it is also called as Jumma Bazaar.

The primary source of 50% of the stuff that is sold in Chor Bazaar comes from another Flea Market called the Waghri Bazaar. It is situated at the grounds of Lane No 13 , Kamathipura, near Mumbai Central. This wholesale flea market opens up at 4 am every Friday and closes by 8 am. Most of the sellers are Gujrathi Hindus and most buyers are Muslim dealers from Chor Bazaar.

These buyers own shops in Chor Bazaar and thus by 9 am on Friday they open up their businesses.

^[3] There's a saying about this area, if you lose anything in Mumbai you can buy it back from the "Chor Bazaar"^[4]. It has been mentioned in popular novels like Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long Journey^[4] as "not a nice place"^[5].

References

1. ^ Giridharadas, Anand (June 22, 2008). "36 Hours in Mumbai". The New York Times. http://events.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/travel/22hours.html. Retrieved 2009-03-06. 
2. ^ "Chor Bazaar". Fodors.com. http://www.fodors.com/world/asia/india/mumbai-bombay-and-maharashtra/review-446183.html. Retrieved 2009-03-06. 
3. ^ Isar Qureshi, Music Historian
4. ^ ^{a b} Brooks, Victoria (2000). Literary Trips (Illustrated ed.). GreatestEscapes Pub. pp. 36. ISBN 0968613705. http://books.google.com/books?id=JbktvlhYdr8C&pg=PA36&dq=chor+bazaar&client=firefox-a#PPA36,M1. Retrieved 2009-03-06. 
5. ^ Mistry, Rohington (1991). Such a long journey. Knopf. pp. 92. ISBN 0679400095. http://books.google.com/books?id=0WliAAAAMAAJ&q=chor+bazaar&dq=chor+bazaar&client=firefox-a&pgis=1.