Bazaars and Indigenous design

Bazaars are a valuable study in indigenous thought that stems from the “education” of the vendor who has learnt intrinsically from his surrounding natural environment and from his “non-education” which understands design to be a collective effort. There is nothing that belongs to a pre-planned aesthetic or to a designer’s style. Space and Place are both seen as an outcome of random forces in nature and man’s individual and collective responses to it.

The YouTube film is by isoguruvinod. Here is a link to their website: www.vinodfilms.com

The vendors who belong to the bazaar adapt to the people who enter and leave the bazaar and to their needs in terms of the spatial configurations and the visual displays they generate as a way of selling better.

In the cities, on the one hand, markets are being built by the Municipal Corporations with better infrastructure but they may lack local flavour and the vigour of the lives of the Indian people. On the other hand, malls are being constructed in small and big cities and retail shopping takes on a new direction.

Hampi - the bazaar

We were at Anegondi. The coracle was waiting. It took us along. It was like being inside a sculpture, a sculpture that flowed by the water. It was of course peaceful, no people, stone and its own ways. As we shored, it seemed like we were entering Hampi from its back door. A winding path through the overpowering stones and we were suddenly onto the street that led to the temple. This had also been the street where the main bazaar had once been. It was today also a bazaar, but a half bazaar. One end was deserted.

It should be possible to experience a historic place in its 'as is, where is' condition. We often crave to know the history before we reach there, or when we are there. Without the stories of the past reaching us, how much of the present of a place is still there for us to experience?



The Hampi of today has people who belong to an India that has changed. It has people who live here with their families and it has people who visit as tourists. The shops that line the bazaar of today sell T-shirts and Pepsi. There are internet booths. There are craft shops. As UNESCO brings in its Conservation experts, there is work also on the contemporarising of this beautiful old bazaar.

In the mind of a child

In THE HINDU – YOUNG WORLD painting competitions, school students express themselves in colour and form.

What impressions do bazaars leave on children . . .

Venkatesh lives in a “big” town. Maybe, his family usually shops at this enclosed market. It is different from Lathika’s cart vendor and Siva’s open market place. In ‘big’ towns, the municipality has provided a covered area for a bazaar. What one sees in this painting is that Vijayawada must be a cosmopolitan town. The vegetable vendors are not all Telugu-speaking. There is also a Sardarji. One woman vendor is selling her wares in a basket. Who is the man with the trolley? The foreground is coloured green. Could it be that the bazaar is not paved?

I look at the painting by Siva Sankari. His ‘Bazaar Scene’ is filled with so many people. Bazaars are always crowded. But, why are they so? If the bazaar at Teppakulam were made larger, would it still look like this? The advertisements loom large. Everyone is offering discounts. It must be DIWALI time when Siva made this painting. They are diwali offers.

Bazaar on Konkan coast

In Maharashtra, the coastline belongs to the Kolis or Fishermen. The men go out to sea to catch the fish. The women sell the fish at the local bazaar. Koli women focus on the quality of the product. That is all that matters. And, if you don't trust them when they say the price is good and the fish fresh, you can go take a walk!!




There are no "circulation paths" in the Maasali bazaar or Fish market at Murud Janjira, which has today become a weekend getaway for Bombayites and where the Janjira fort stands in the waters of the Arabian sea. You "circulate" without a plan. You "circulate" without a thought. You "circulate" as if you are in the waters of the ocean. With every wave, you change where you are and what you do.




There is an indoor market and an outdoor market. Inside, there is tranquillity. Outside, chaos reigns. The market structure has little openings in the walls and some places in the roof, that bring in the sunlight beautifully. The vendors here have time to chat with you as you stroll around the few lanes within.

There is the countrywood jali which generates good cross-ventilation within the bazaar building. The walls are white. The sunlight is a serene spotlight from above that sometimes puts the women on centrestage and sometimes the fish.






Other posts on Fish Bazaar:
Fish market at Sassoon Docks