Khan Market

Khan Market (Hindi: ख़ान बाज़ार, Punjabi: ਖ਼ਾਨ ਬਾਜ਼ਾਰ, Urdu: خان بازار), named in honour of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (popularly khown as Frontier Gandhi or Badshah Khan), it is the costliest market strip in New Delhi.[1] It has been ranked as the costliest retail location in India.[1] In 2010, it was rated as the world's 21st most expensive retail high street by real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield[2][3][4] and is consistently ranked as one of the costliest high end streets.[5][6] It is located almost at the heart of the city, close to India Gate. Surrounded by residential complexes – both government owned and private, including Golf Links, Lodhi Estate, Pandara Road, Rabindra Nagar and Sujan Singh Park. Its environs are home to a significant number of bureaucrats from the central government, and famous people like the satiric author Khushwant Singh. It is one of the greenest pockets of the city, very close to the famed Lodhi Gardens. Also in proximity are the India International Centre, the India Habitat Centre, offices of the World Wide Fund for Nature, and other organizations.

It lies on Khan Market station of the Delhi Metro (Violet Line).

History

Originally allocated as seed land to immigrants from the North-West Frontier Province after the partition of India, Khan Market is named in honor of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890–1988), a Pashtun political and spiritual leader whose memory is deeply respected throughout India.[7][8] Also near by is "Sujan Singh Park", New Delhi's first apartment complex, built in 1945, and designed by Walter Sykes George and named after the grandfather of this enclave’s most famous resident, writer Khushwant Singh.[9]

Today it has grown to become one of the most expensive commercial real estate locations in the city. It has a wide variety of stores, including modern showrooms of most of well known brands like Nike, Reebok, Benetton, Goodearth and others. Delicatessens, bookstores,paints and hardware stores, electronics, kitchenware, and fabric stores mingle with some of the better restaurants in the city. Some of the stores and eating joints include FabIndia, Raj stores, Anokhi,Sanjiv Mehra's Allied Stores [1], Cooptex, Gift Palace (for toys, games and theme parties), Aamayo, The Kitchen, Market Cafe, Cafe Turtle, Albake, Big Chill, Cafe Zaffiro, Barista, McDonalds, Subway, Kriti Creations , and a general store, national cloth house and Khadi Gramudyog. It is also famous for food including kebabs from Salim's Kebabs, Khan Chacha's Kebab's and momos opposite Lok Nayak Bhavan, which houses several government offices. There are also several popular bookstores in the market which offer a unique selection of books in the heart of Delhi.

References

  1. ^ a b Hazlett C., "Glitter and Grit – Shopping Centers Today", February 2007
  2. ^ "Delhi's Khan Market is world's 21st costliest high street". The Times of India. 2010-09-23. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Delhis-Khan-Market-is-worlds-21st-costliest-high-street/articleshow/6613778.cms. Retrieved 2010-09-23. 
  3. ^ "Delhi's Khan Market world's 21st costliest street". The Times of India. 2010-09-24. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Delhis-Khan-Market-worlds-21st-costliest-street/articleshow/6616313.cms. Retrieved 2010-09-24. 
  4. ^ "New Delhi's Khan Market India's costliest street, world's 21st". Hindustan Times. 2010-09-25. http://www.hindustantimes.com/khan-market-india-s-costliest-street-world-s-21st/h1-article1-603949.aspx. Retrieved 2010-09-25. 
  5. ^ Kulshrestha, Taneesha; Tarafdar, Suman (March 29, 2008). "High rentals dwarf luxury brands' India gameplan". The Financial Express (The Indian Express). http://www.financialexpress.com/news/high-rentals-dwarf-luxury-brands-india-gameplan/289769/0. Retrieved September 15, 2009. 
  6. ^ "India becomes dearer for high street retailers: Survey". Economic Times. 2010-09-23. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/retailing/India-becomes-dearer-for-high-street-retailers-Survey/articleshow/6614907.cms. Retrieved 2010-09-23. 
  7. ^ "The other Khan Chacha", The Hindu, 2009-10-24, http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/article38132.ece, retrieved 2009-11-20, "... Khan Market itself is named after a pathan, the legendary Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan ..." 
  8. ^ Benjamin Penny (2002), Religion and biography in China and Tibet, Routledge, ISBN 0700711775, http://books.google.com/books?id=-OeX3WCs9cIC, "... Khan Abdul Ghaffar (otherwise the [North- West] 'Frontier Gandhi'), aged ninety-eight and deeply respected by all Indians ..." 
  9. ^ "Making history with brick and mortar". Hindustan Times. September 15, 2011. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Making-history-with-brick-and-mortar/Article1-745801.aspx. 

External links