Chowk Market, Lucknow (must see)

Loud, crowded, colorful, and spicy are the features of Chowk Market. Chowk, in Hindi, means "market." The Chowk Market is in the oldest site of Lucknow. The streets are narrow and meandering, jammed with people, motor scooters, and merchandise with little space left over. It is accessible through Lohia Park or Albari Gate.

The Market is near Koneshwar Temple and the Medical College. Nearly 5,000 small businesses sell Chikan garments, a traditional embroidery style of Lucknow; gold and silver jewelry; and utensils. Gol Darwaza, the famous gateway, part of Chowk shops, is filled with finely crafted items such as knives, shirt pins, lampshades, Jardoji clothes, Nagra shoes, ivory flowers, birds, and animals.

There is no shortage of food stalls in Chowk. Try Chinese, South and North Indian, Lucknow, Mughlai, vegetarian or non. Dairy products, kebabs, wraps, biryani, and fast foods are everywhere. There are sweet stalls and shops in business for 200 years. Authentic Chikankari costumes and traditional handmade jewelry can also be found at the Chowk Market.