Bapu Bazaar

Bapu Bazaar is one of the liveliest markets inside Jaipur's walled Pink City, Rajasthan, popular with locals and visitors alike. Bapu Bazaar is best known for Rajasthani textiles, especially hand block-printed cotton, bedspreads, quilts and table linen, as well as colourful clothing and handicrafts at modest prices.

Bapu Bazaar takes its name from Mahatma Gandhi, widely called Bapu, and runs along the southern side of the old city between Sanganeri Gate and New Gate. Much of the cloth sold here comes from Sanganer and Bagru, two nearby towns where block printers have worked for centuries, stamping cotton with carved wooden blocks and natural dyes. Bapu Bazaar is also the place to buy mojaris, the traditional embroidered leather slippers of Rajasthan. Most of the shops are small family businesses, and many stalls spill out under the pink arcades, so the street is busiest in the late afternoon, when Jaipur families come to shop after work.

What to see

• Sanganeri and Bagru hand block prints, sold by the metre or as quilts and bedcovers
• Jaipuri razai, the famously light cotton-filled quilts
• Mojaris and juttis in embroidered leather or fabric
• Bandhani dupattas, cushion covers and cloth bags
• Brass, puppet and lac bangle stalls towards the gates

What to wear

Bapu Bazaar needs no dress code, but it is crowded, so wear comfortable closed shoes and keep your bag in front. Summer afternoons are very hot under the arcades. If you want to try Rajasthani dress, this is the place: shops sell ready-made kurtas, lehenga skirts and odhnis, and some will tie a safa turban for you.

Local food to try

The stalls around the market sell pyaaz kachori, samosa and hot jalebi, and lassi in clay cups. For lunch, find a thali of dal baati churma, gatte ki sabzi and ker sangri in the walled city, or ghevar and mawa sweets. Jaipur food is mostly vegetarian.

Good to know

• Best from October to March, in the late afternoon
• Shops open late morning to evening; many close on Sundays
• Free to browse
• Allow one to two hours
• Inside the walled city near New Gate, 5 km from Jaipur Junction
• Compare prices at a few shops and bargain politely; check the stitching on mojaris

Nearby places

Bapu Bazaar runs into Johari Bazaar, and Hawa Mahal and the City Palace are both a short walk north.