Hall Bazaar in Amritsar is completely a different world altogether as compared to the entire city. Situated within the main city the place has a distinctive ambience that gives it a distinct identity. I was strolling the market pretty early hours to enjoy the calmness, however the place is one of the bustling place during the day. Finding it as an opportunity, I made sure to capture the ambience, before it get crowded.
We reached Amritsar pretty late at night. After doing out with the check-in formality at the hotel, we took a short nap before hitting the street in the wee hours to visit Golden temple. Thanks to the local tuk-tuk, available at 3 AM who dropped us at the Ghodewala chowk. The place is new to us and so does the people. The place has a distinct language and culture, so navigating to the place is bit odd to us. However, I was in a different moo, and wanted to enjoy the trip. rather than keep querying about the direction, I decided to walk with the flow and it worked for us. The early morning hours was very quite and it took us to few moment to reevaluate the place. The long journey and then incomplete rest made us bit exhausted but we made sure to make the most of the available time for our short trip. Ghodewala chowk is one of the popular entrance points towards the Hall Bazaar area. There is a prominent statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Amritsar, which serves as an entry point for the Golden Temple route and is a key part of the city's beautification, making it very accessible from the general area around Hall Bazaar.
Hall Bazaar in Amritsar is a historic market located on the path leading to the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib). The bazaar offers traditional Punjabi goods, electronics, handicrafts, and jewelry, making it a key part of Amritsar's Heritage Street.
Although it is a prominent market, area the ambience is completely different. Hall Bazaar area has a well maintained roads. The area is quite clean and the place has better upkeep than rest of the city. I was quite impressed the way it was maintained, but later learned that the upkeep is done primarily due to its status as a critical, high-traffic commercial hub and its role as a key pathway for tourists visiting the Golden Temple.
There is widely roads, granite made sitting area, trees and many shops on both side of the street. This is what making it distinctive than rest of the Amritsar city. I was getting a feel that I am in a different world, or walking inside a shopping Mall, but the presence of open sky is what pulling us back to reality.
Even though we were at the early wee hours, but the scene at the place does not appears to be so. The place was still bustling with people, although not much of the shops were open. The people were going towards the Golden temple. I was also walking towards the direction, but was more fascinated by the ambience of the place. The feel of the place is quite different than any other market. The market is generally gets operational from 8AM till late at night. Located near the Golden Temple, the area initially experiences a serene, early-morning atmosphere as devotees and locals head towards the temple for prayers. I snapped few shots of the place as it appears in the early hours.
In those early hours the market was not operational, still the presence of people around does scared us. Few of the people I met was very friendly. In the early hours, the intense traffic congestion that often plagues the market later in the day is not yet fully in effect, offering a more peaceful, yet quickly energetic environment. I had the chance of other experiences of the places too and simply recounts the morning hours being the best one to avoid crowd and chaos.
In good faith - Peace!!
