Dhaka Markets’ Streets

Banani is an elite area of Dhaka City where marketing, life style and shop contents parallel the developed world. This area is based on luxury consumption and is full the head offices of global companies, private universities and schools as well as hotels, restaurants, fashion houses, entertainment centers and global brand shops. Here the life is fast, expensive and enjoyable compared to other places in Dhaka, except for Gulshan and Dhanmondi.

Banani Bazaar includes Kamal Attaturk Avenue, Alam Plaza and the General Market. The Banani General Market was built in 1970 in the form of an “E” and it was known as Banani Hawker Market. However, in 2006 the market was shifted to its present location by the Dhaka City Corporation and the open-air market replaced with the shopping complex. There are 104 shops in this market. Grocery items, vegetables, fish, meat and daily needs are on sale here. This market opens at 7:00 AM and closes at 10:30 PM. Some tea-stalls and fruits shops sit in front of the market. The market also has a parking area in front

The first two floors of Alam Bhaban are famous for stationery, hardware, electronics, crockery, restaurants and beauty salons. The rest of floors of this multi-storied center are used as office space.

Bangladesh U.A.E. Maitry Shopping Mall, which forms part of the Banani complex, is famous for global brand products. There are a total sixty shops on three floors in the shopping mall. All shops in this market are well decorated and full of valuable products. Modern beauty parlors, clothing, shoes, sari, three pieces ensembles, toys, movies, cosmetics and pastry shops are found here. Beside this, many tea-stalls and hawkers , selling low priced products can be found nearby.

With the changing of time and the increasing population more markets are required in Dhaka city. The Uttor part of Dhaka, unlike Gulsan and Banani has not yet developed the necessary infrastructure to create a modern market culture and life style. However, there is an old market that still maintains the old market traditions in the area. The Uttor Badda is small but its location on the roadside at the conjunction of busy roads makes this old market one of the busiest in the metropolitan area. Uttor Badda Bazaar plays a vital role in meeting the daily household needs of the local community, particularly the provision of vegetables, meat, fish and fruits required on a daily basis.

In this market, particularly in the vegetable market child shopkeepers are prominent, although child labor is prohibited in the country. There are about 200 shops in the central market place and many shops on the roadside, where restaurants, pharmacies, sweetshops, bookshops, fruits shops and tea-stall are found in profusion. The shops add colour to the market through their decorations and advertising material.

Nawab Subadar Amir Umara, Jagirdar of Dhaka created many gardens (bagan) in Dhaka city in the Mughal period. The Mughals appointed many mali (gardeners) to take care of the gardens and to make flower garlands. The mali lived together in this area, hence the name Malibag

The present Malibag Bazaar contains the Malibag Super Market, Jilu Shopping Market, Rail Gate street market and a vegetable market. The Malibag super market is a four-storey building with 350 shopping stalls on the first two floors. At the front are the grocery, stationery, bakery, sweet and fruit shops as well as restaurants. Inside of the market are the sari, pant, shirt, three-piece, jewelry, electronics, plastic item, ceramics, crockery and cosmetic shops. In Jilu Biponi Market there are about 150 shops providing groceries, stationery, tailors and daily household needs. A mosque stands beside this market and a general market is located in front. Vegetable, fish, meat, dry fish and daily needs are sold in this general market.

Opposite the general market building is the big roadside Rail Gate market. This market stands in four lines on both sides of the rail line. Rice, dal, fish, meat, vegetable and other daily items are sold in this market cheaply because the major customers are the. marginalized urban poor. Small restaurants, tea stalls, general cloth stalls and shoes shops are also found here.

Although Malibag Super Market and Julu Biponi market close on Fridays the general market and Rail Gate street market have no holyday. Malibag Bazaar opens at 7:00 AM and closes at 9:00 PM. A few shops of Rail Gate street market and some of the small roadside shops remain open until 11: 00 PM .

Mouchak Market is one of the favorite markets for the middle class women of Dhaka City. This market was established in 1972 just after Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan. At that time it was considered the most modern market in Dhaka. Although the market structure is now old it has not lost its dignity. Everyday thousands of women and girls come here to buy dresses and fashion products.

Mouchak Market is located in the middle of the Magbazaar and Malibag area. The three roads converge in front of Mouchak Market, which means it is always crowded with people, rickshaws and cars so people try to avoid this area to save time when driving in Dhaka. However, there is an over-bridge which is linked with the third floor of Mouchak Market which facilitates access some of the time. Originally the main clientele of the market was the Dhaka elite but now it caters mostly to the middle and lower middle class.

Mouchak Market is a five-storied building and there are about five hundred shops. There is, surprisingly, a Chinese restaurant adjacent to a mosque on the top floor. A number of big and small jewelry shops are located on the ground floor while the first floor provides shops for saris, pants, shirt, shalwar kameezes, baby wear and garment items. Shoe, cosmetics, ceramics, crockery, imitation ornaments, fast food outlets, tailors and so on are also present in this market. It is considered by women to be a ‘one stop shopping center ‘. The avenue in front of the market is now known as “Mouchak Mur” ( Mouchak Avenue)

Friday is the holiday of Mouchak Market. Everyday this market opens at 9:00 AM and closes at 9:00 PM.

The down town “Khilgaon” area was just like the countryside until the establishment of the biggest flyover bridge in the country, which changed the appearance of the area dramatically. Khilgaon Bazaar is situated just near the Khilgaon Rail crossing, which is always fearfully crowded as many hawkers open their stalls along the railway. The rickshaws and illegal roadside shops make the area very congested and decrease the beauty of the market. Khilganon Markets has demanded an upgrade, to become a multistoried shopping center with the parallel development of the fly-over. The Dhaka City Corporation has plans to convert the Khilgaon Market into a shopping mall. This conversion may work against the present marginalized shopkeepers who may will be evicted because if they can’t meet the high cost of rent of the new shops.

The Khilgaon Market is popular as it is a comprehensive market selling virtually everything required for daily living. From specie to cloth all daily necessary products are available here. The market is sub-divided according to the type of products sold. There is a cloth market, a vegetable market, a meat and fish market, a spice market, the fruit market as well as shops selling rice and daily family products. At present this market is divided into four parts they are Uttara Market, Pubali Market, Hawkers Market and Municipality Market. There are 837 shops available in this Bazaar.

The history of the market stretches back to 1974 when some businessmen took a lease on the land and decided to develop it. They established a Bazaar with 351 shops. City Corporation authority gave permission to build a ten storied building in 2003 as part of the re-development but work has not yet begun.
Khilgaon Bazaar opens at 7:00 AM and closes at 9:00 PM. But the tea stall and restaurant remain open deep into the night.

Uploaded on Jul 31, 2009

Globalization and modernization, have had an impact on Dhaka city architecture. This can be seen in the design of the markets and the market motif, manifested in consumerism as a life style and a culture. Within the past few years many shopping malls have been established and global brand products have become widely available, which in turn has an impact on the quality of local products. The modern markets and the products they sell are the most obvious examples of the influence of the West on contemporary urban Bangladesh.

The Metro Shopping Mall of Dhanmondi is a popular shopping mall for fashion products. The main clients of the market are the rich young generations as all shop sell high price products and emphasise the quality of their goods. Metro plays an important role in the evolving life-style of contemporary Dhaka.

This luxurious shopping mall was established in 2002 on Mirpur Road, Dhanmondi, just behind the Bangamandu Memorial Museum. Metro is a six-storied shopping center where each floor has forty-one shops. It is famous for readymade garments, jewelry, shoes, cosmetics and fashion items for ladies and gents. The top two floors are occupied with electronic shops selling, CDs, VCDs, mobile phones and mobile accessories. Friday is the weekly holiday for this market and on other days Metro opens at 9:00 AM and closes at 9:00 PM.

In the Mughal period the name of Shahbag was Bag-E-Shahenshah, which was hard to pronounce so in the British period the name was changed to Shahbag for easier recall.

This area is famous for many important institutions located there. Bangabondhu Medical College Hospital, BIRDEM, National Museum, Dhaka University, Fine Arts Faculty, the biggest flower market of Dhaka, Shishu Park and Ramna Park, and the Public Library are all located in Shahbag.

The road side of Shahbag has many flower shops. Marriage ceremonies, birthdays, different occasions and on every special day huge numbers of customers are attracted to these flower stalls. As the biggest flower market of Dhaka City you can find many local and foreign species of flowers available. Along with flower selling, the shops provide other services such as car decoration, stage decoration with flowers and everyday many bridal cars come to be decorated with flowers.

Fine Arts Faculty of Dhaka University is situated here. Promising young artists study in this institute to improve their skills and develop professionalism. Zainul Gallery is an in-house gallery of the Fine Arts Faculty, which regularly exhibits art with an emphasis on the work of the students. Chobr Hat, is a part of the institute just opposite of the main building, where a replica of the Aparajoy Bangla statue is located. The photograph shows an impromptu open-air market where artists exhibit and sell their artwork, which is on display for customers to admire and buy. The Friday market is an open-air market, or rather open air exhibition.

Shishu Park is another popular place of Shahbag. Sunday is the holiday of this park but most days a lot of people come here with their children. As Friday is a holiday, the highest number of visitors comes here on this day because it is the best place for children’s recreation in Dhaka. There are many kinds of rides available here. Some ‘fast food’ shops are also found in Shishu Park. The entry fee of Shishu Park is eight Taka per person. As a huge number of children come here every day there are many mobile toyshops in the park, and a Bangla food stall sits in front of Shishu Park.

Eastern Plaza was established in 1990 on the famous Sonargoan Road. This was the first multi-storied ultra modern shopping center to be built in Dhaka City. Eastern Plaza has not lost its importance for the middleclass customers despite the building of many more attractive shopping malls throughout Dhaka, including its immediate neighbours, Mutaleb Plaza and Nahar Computer Complex. The area is still known as the Eastern Plaza zone.

There are 98 shops on each floor of the five-storied Eastern Plaza building. Each floor is used for a specific product category. On the ground floor cosmetics, crockery and gift items are available. The 1st floor is filled with shops selling saris (Bangladeshi women’s dress) and fashion products, including the exotic Jamdani sari and Tater sari as well as modern dress apparel. The 2nd floor is famous for shirts, pants, shalwar kameez, baby wear and toys. The 3rd floor is well known for jewelry and shoe shops and the top floor for the cheap software, DVDs, cell phones, and is favoured by the young for shopping as well as a meeting area.

This market opens at 9:00 AM and closes at 9:00 PM. Friday is the weekly holiday of Eastern Plaza.

Elephant Road is situated on the north side of National Science Laboratory. The middle point of Elephant Road is known as Bata Signal after the large Bata (shoe manufacturers and retailers) show room, which is considered the landmark for this part of Dhaka. There are also a huge number of other shoe shops in the area.

Multiplan Center is the second biggest computer market of Dhaka City and is located on Elephant Road. There are also a number of other computer shopping and service centers in the area. Besides computers the shops of Elephant Road have become popular as a mobile phone markets as well.

Elephant Road is ornamented by a number of different types of shops like restaurants, photo-shops, watch shops and fashion shops. Moreover, this road is famous for the Bangladesh brand name ceramics like Mono Ceramics, Shaeenpukur, Japan-color, Gitalli, Fops, and Cates Eye. Elephant Road is also famous for carpets, copper showpiece, wedding products and interior decoration, cloth selling and wedding shops. All the necessary products for a marriage are available in the marriage market, which not only sells the bridal and bridegroom outfits but also rents them to customers. The small food shops, tea-stalls, garments shops, illegal car and rickshaw parking make Elephant Road one of the most congested thoroughfares in Dhaka.
The shops of Elephant Roads are open between 9 A.M and close at 8 P.M every day of the week.

Hatirpul Bazaar is situated on the northern border of Dhanmondi thana (district). Although this is a small bazaar it has historical significance. People say that in the British period (until 1947) local landlords used this place as an elephant farm, hence its name “Hatirpul” (in Bangla ‘Hati’ means elephant).

This bazaar is a roadside market extending from Katabon to Motalab Plaza. Although it is roadside bazaar it is legal, operated by the city corporation. The small shops are very important for the local inhabitants, as there is no big general or vegetable market in the area. Seasonal fruits, meat, fish, vegetables, rice, spices and daily needs are available here. In addition to the small grocery markets there are stationery shops and some small restaurants whose major clients are rickshaw pullers, other workers, CNG and taxi drivers. Four roads form a junction in the Hatirpul area, which means it is always busy, particularly with the abundance of rickshaws.

Like a countryside shop, most shops of this Bazaar stay closed during lunch period. In the morning and evening this Bazaar becomes very crowded with customers. It opens early morning and closes around 10 at night.