Overview
- Features: Biggest market area in Hyderabad
- Opening Times: 9am to 11pm, daily
- Best Time to Visit: Late October to early March
- Duration: 1 to 2 hours
- Travelled By: Bus
- Cost: Free
- Address: Laad Bazaar Road, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
- Type: Market
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Summary
West of the Charminar, the crowded Laad Bazaar is the perfect place to get lost. It is the oldest and biggest market in Hyderabad selling everything from bangles, jewellery and perfumes to fabrics, wedding related items and kitchen implements.
Laad Bazaar Hyderabad
Located in the heart of the Old City, Laad Bazaar, also known as Choodi (bangles) Bazaar, is a very old market popular for bangles. Laad meaning lacquer is used to make bangles, on which artificial diamonds are studded. West of the Charminar, the crowded Laad Bazaar sells everything from fine perfumes, fabrics and jewellery to musical instruments, wedding related items and kitchen implements. This old bazaar has been in operation since the time of the Qutb Shahis and the Nizams.
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Laad Bazaar is also a popular place for buying pearl jewellery. The lanes around the Charminar form the centre of India’s pearl trade. Some great deals can be had – if you know what you’re dealing with.
While walking along the crowded lanes of the bazaar, look out for attar shops which sell perfume oils sold in tiny bottles including a local speciality called gil, which captures the scent of wet earth after the first rainfall of a scorching summer.
Bargaining and haggling is part and parcel of this market. Shopkeepers employ “beckoning” tactics, placing an employee at the entrance of the store beckoning passers-by to enter their shop. Once you’re inside a shop, most shops are furnished with a clean, soft cotton mattress that covers the entire floor. Customers sit on the soft cotton mattress without shoes, lean against a wall with a round pillow as support and the sales person presents all items on the floor. All business is conducted on this floor.
If you’re not interested in shopping, this fascinating hive of bazaars is worth inspecting for their beautiful wooden buildings with stone carvings and pink elephant gates. At the chowk, keep an eye out for a mosque and a Victorian clock tower which are equally impressive as the colourful bazaar. Along the narrow lanes artisans are tucked away in their tiny shops creating jewellery and scented oils, large pots and burkas.
Getting to & from Laad Bazaar Hyderabad
Laad Bazaar is located in the Old City so there are numerous transportation options to get here.
The most affordable way is to take a bus from Abids or another area of Hyderabad to the Old City. There are several buses that leave regularly from the main bus station in the Abids area.
Alternatively, you can hop into an auto rickshaw or taxi with a meter which can drop you right in the middle of the Old City.
Of course, you can also hire a private car with chauffeur. When booking your private car always ensure you are using a reputable hotel or travel agency.
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