Manak Chowk Market
The chowk was once a Sadar Mandi
(grain-market), and a beehive of activity. Merchants from far away
lands like Persia, Iraq, Egypt and Arabia used to visit the city to
trade. Jaisalmer in those days was not dissimilar to the ‘great
silk route’ from Europe to China and made the town fairly
prosperous. However, with the development of other trading centres in
India in the port cities of Bombay, Cochin and Madras, the importance
of Jaisalmer as a conduit for trade between India and the rest of Asia
declined. This led to a large number of people migrating from the
town; the population of Jaisalmer declined from 35000 in 1815 to only
about 22,355 according to the 1981 census.
At Manak Chowk you’ll get the impression that you are sitting in
a time machine and have gone back into the past – women dressed
in brightly coloured ghagharas (long skirts) and odhanis (long scarf),
their limbs decked with ivory and silver ornaments. Manak Chowk hosts
the relics of a bygone age. |
