Kolkata's markets, and which one to go to for what

Kolkata's markets are specialised in a way that saves a lot of wandering if you know which is which.

New Market, near Esplanade, is the general one — a nineteenth-century covered market plus the sprawl that has grown around it, selling everything and requiring you to bargain for all of it. Go for the atmosphere and the bakery counters; go early, because it becomes very dense by midday.

Gariahat is where the city buys textiles. Saris, fabric by the metre, and the pavement stalls around the crossing that are frequently better value than the shops behind them. Evening is the busy, enjoyable time.

College Street is books and only books — the largest second-hand book market in the country, stall after stall, and it is entirely possible to find a first edition next to a stack of exam guides.

Mullick Ghat flower market, under the Howrah Bridge, is the one to set an alarm for. It runs from before dawn, supplies the whole city, and the hour after sunrise there is the single most photographed thing in Kolkata for good reason.

And the neighbourhood bazaars — Lake Market, Manicktala, Maniktala — are where the food actually is: fish in the morning, vegetables all day, and prices that bear no relation to the supermarkets.

One rule for all of them: cash, small notes, and mornings. Kolkata's markets are a morning city, whatever the shops on top of them say.