Chor Bazaar is one of the largest

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

s in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, located at Mutton street, near Bhendi Bazaar in Grant Road,

South Mumbai South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahalaxmi (Western side), Byculla ...

. The area is one of the tourist attractions of Mumbai. The word ''"chor"'' means 'thief' in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

, Gujarati and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. According to popular legend, if you lose anything in Mumbai you can buy it back from the Chor Bazaar.

Origin of name

Chor Bazaar, literally translated as ''Thieves' Market'', was initially called ''Shor Bazaar'', given how noisy things would get in the bustling and busy markets along the arterial Mohammed Ali Road. It is located just about a few kms away from Crawford Market in

. The market got called Chor Bazaar by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

who could not pronounce the word correctly. Eventually, stolen goods and vintage items made their way into the market and the name stayed.

History

Chor Bazaar in Mumbai emerged as one of the oldest markets of second-hand goods in India since the

British rule in India The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. In modern times, it is said to sell mostly second-hand goods rather than stolen goods. The market is now famous for antique and vintage items. A store called Mini Market offers old Bollywood posters for sale. Others offer authentic Victorian furniture, replacement parts for automobiles, etc. Although bargains are sometimes staggering, haggling is considered mandatory. This is basically an "organized" flea market, where one has to rummage through junk to find what one wants. A popular story about the origin of the name of the market is that a violin and some other belongings of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

went missing while being unloaded from her ship while on a visit to Bombay, and were later found for sale in the "thieves' market".

In popular culture

The market has been mentioned in popular novels, including Rohinton Mistry's '' Such a Long Journey'', where it is described as "not a nice place". ''The Spool Man'' (2016) – a short documentary about a Chor Bazaar shop-keeper, directed by Daniel Ifans, produced by We Are Tilt. Official Selection at Ethnografilm Film festival 2019 (Paris, France).

Gallery

File:Bazaarchitecture37 (4060990598).jpg,

Mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

at Chor Bazaar File:Bazaarchitecture0 (4060273653).jpg, Colonial era building at Chor Bazaar File:Bazaarchitecture16 (4060315177).jpg, Second hand electronic goods File:Bazaarchitecture32 (4060240167).jpg, Antique items for sale File:Bazaarchitecture8 (4061032054).jpg, Antique items for sale File:Bazaarchitecture36 (4060989102).jpg, Crowd at the market in morning File:Bazaarchitecture49 (4060264933).jpg, Lanes in Chor Bazaar File:Chor Bazaar, Mutton Street, Mumbai (24594093319).jpg, Old photograph showing guitars for sale File:Barbells chor bazaar.jpg, Dumbbells for sale at Chor Bazaar File:Phones chor bazaar.jpg, Old second hand phones and electronic goods for sale

References

External links