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The Dilli Haat Food &
Craft Bazaar is a joint project of Delhi Tourism & Transportation
Development Corporation and New Delhi Municipal Committee. The
project has received technical and financial support from the
Ministry of Textiles through the offices of Development Commissioner
(Handicrafts) and Development Commissioner (Handlooms). The objective
of the project is to provide marketing facilities to rural artisans
and craft persons in the Capital city, without the intervention of
middle men. It also attempts to offer to the visiting tourist not
only the arts and handicrafts of the country at one place, but also
the cuisine and performing arts from different parts of the country.
While developing the concept, it was kept in mind that when a ‘Haat’
comes to the city, it has to adjust to urban contemporary needs while
retaining the cultural ambience familiar to rural crafts people.
An idea was initially
mooted in late 1990 by the DTTDC to set up a Crafts Bazaar which
would provide a basic infrastructure to rural and urban artisans to
promote and market the arts and handicrafts of India—at the same
time, providing an opportunity to the tourist to sample the cuisine
and performing arts from different regions. A piece of land measuring
six acres belonging to NDMC on Sri Aurobindo Marg opposite INA
Market, New Delhi, which was initially an open drain, was identified
by Delhi Tourism and NDMC for setting up of a Food & Craft Bazaar
right in the heart of South Delhi. The Bazaar is a temporary
structure with a number of specially designed stalls and other
facilities for the benefit of rural, skilled craftsmen. These
craftsmen sell handicrafts from various States directly to the
customer at reasonable rates. Another feature of the Bazaar is that
there are a number of stalls where authentic Indian cuisine of
various regions in the country is available. This Food & Craft
Bazaar is the first ever attempt to provide leisure and recreational
facilities for both the domestic and international tourists broadly
in line with Newton Circus of Singapore.
The complex has been set
up in an area of 27,000 sq-m. The area has been developed as a park
where the constructed area has been limited to around 10% of the
total plot area i.e., 2700 sq-m. The shop/stalls have been set up on
platforms which act as a link in the Bazaar design. The country-yards
in between these shops have been paved in stone and spaced with grass
to retain visual softness. The entire area has been extensively
landscaped to provide a conducive environment for recreation and
leisure.
The crafts section of the
Bazaar has a total number of 62 stalls. These stalls are allotted to
notional/state level craftsmen and other artisans from all over the
country, for a maximum period of 15 days. Ministry of Textiles,
Government of India from the offices of Development Commissioner
(Handicrafts) and Development Commissioner (Handlooms) identify these
craftsmen and invite them on rotation basis to participate in Dilli
Haat for a maximum period of 15 day. In the Bazaar, there is one
exhibition hall and two pavilions where crafts societies and other
government sponsored agencies can put up exhibitions in consultation
with Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) and Development
Commissioner (Handlooms). These agencies/societies should be engaged
in the promotion of handicrafts and handlooms.
The food section of the
Bazaar consists of 16 big and nine small food stalls. All the State
Tourism Corporations have been approached to take these stalls in
order to make available ethnic food from different parts of India at
one place.
The Food & Craft
Bazaar also has an International Food Plaza where it is proposed to
make available international food from different parts of the world
by rotation. Various embassies are being invited to organize the food
festival of their respective countries.
There is an open air
cultural complex where cultural programmes are being organized during
the weekends. An effort has also been made to show the cultural
aspects of different States of India by organizing festivals in
consultation with State Tourism Corporations. In this regard, in the
month of August, Teej Festival was organized in collaboration with
Rajasthan Tourism. In the month of September, Onam Festival was
organized in collaboration with Kerala Tourism and a Punjabi Festival
was organized in the month of October. In the month of November, from
6 to 13, West Bengal Food Festival is being organized in Dilli Haat.
The Craft section of this
Bazaar has been developed from financial assistance received from the
Ministry of Textiles, Government of India through the Development
Commissioner (Handicrafts) and Development commissioner (Handlooms)
offices. Department of Tourism, Govt. of India has also granted
financial assistance to this project.
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