Burrabazar Kolkata

“Anything and everything is available at Burrabazar. Even the tiger's eye is available here if you pay the right price.” – A popular saying in Kolkata.

Dinghy streets, crooked lanes, garbage-strewn corners, a mad rush of vehicles, the tinkling hand-pulled rickshaws, a sea of shoppers, and the coercive salesman barging into you – that’s Burrabazar, Kolkata for you. And, the popular saying above aptly sums up this massive business hub of the city, called Burrabazar, Kolkata.

The commercial nucleus of this vast city and the stronghold of Marwari businessmen, Burrabazar, Kolkata is the ultimate word for commerce, trade and industry in Kolkata. Burrabazar, Kolkata has been the focal point of business transaction, and wholesale and retail marketing in the city for a long time now, beginning during the days of the British Raj.

Set up by the Shekhawati Marwari businessmen who migrated to Kolkata on a sprawling 488 bighas and 12 cottahs of land, the Burrabazar, Kolkata came to be a sort of Utopian land where anything and everything could be bought and sold. The traders and businessmen of the city and its suburban areas, as well as those from the adjacent towns, buy their necessities from the business hub called Burrabazar, Kolkata.

Burrabazar, Kolkata, also known as “Bazaar Kolkata”, was the ultimate place for shopping for the crème-de-la-crème of Kolkata, with Bengali Bhadroloks (Babus) and wealthy merchants like Basaks and Mullicks frequenting this place, alongside the servants of the British East India Company. Along with the wholesale and retail business, there used to be a thriving indigenous banking system in Burrabazar, Kolkata, which was also dominated by the prosperous Marwari community.

Even today, Burrabazar, Kolkata is the place that everyone comes to, to buy commodities and other articles at a fair price. However crowded and dinghy the streets may be, and however obtrusive and irritating the salesmen may be, people come here to shop. Nothing can deter these shoppers from avoiding the shocking streets and lanes of Burrabazar, Kolkata. And, for a tourist, a trip to Burrabazar, Kolkata is a must, however alarming and reckless the experience may be!