Dariba Kalan

This narrow lane off Chandni Chowk is the historic jewellers' and silver market of the old city, a trade said to date back to Mughal times. Its name is popularly translated as the street of the incomparable pearl, and generations of family workshops here have specialised in gold, silver and precious-stone ornaments. Cramped shopfronts and hidden upper-floor ateliers line the crowded alley, which also draws visitors for traditional attar perfumes sold nearby. It offers a vivid slice of the living commercial culture of Shahjahanabad.