Anarkali Bazaar

Anarkali is the city's old commercial bazaar, said to be one of the oldest continuously operating markets in South Asia. It runs in a long zigzag south from the Lahore Museum — Old Anarkali (food and textiles) and New Anarkali (jewellery, glass bangles, fabric) — and ends near the colonial-era Tollinton Market.

Come for the food stalls of Old Anarkali in the evening — the haleem and the dahi bhalla are legendary — and for the cheap cotton fabrics, leather slippers, and the carved-wood furniture sold by the metre. It is loud, crowded, and one of the most authentic shopping experiences in Pakistan.

things to do shopping sight market
A story
The bazaar takes its name from a legendary slave girl, Anarkali, said to have been buried alive between two walls by Emperor Akbar in 1599 after she was caught smiling at Prince Salim. Whether the story is true is debated; her supposed tomb survives a few hundred metres to the west.

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