In pictures: Santipur Haat — a haven for sari buyers
Every Thursday and Saturday, Santipur in Nadia hosts a popular and busy 'haat' selling a wide range of quality saris at affordable rates
By
Barnini Maitra Chakraborty |
Published 27.08.22, 08:12 PM
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Santipur, a town in the Ranaghat subdivision of Nadia, known for its taant saris, is home to a haat held every Thursday and Saturday. Hundreds of people from Kolkata throng the haat every week to buy saris. The train ride from Kolkata to Santiniketan takes nearly two-and-a-half hours. From the station, it’s a 20-minute toto ride to the haat. By road, the distance is around 100km and takes around three-and-a-half hours to cover
Photos: Amit Datta
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The sari haat is held in two buildings — Bangor Tant Kaporer Haat and Ghosh Market Tant Kaporer Haat. The four-storeyed buildings are packed with sari sellers on haat days. Though some readymade garments are also available, saris are the main attraction. Customers from all over Bengal throng the haat to get their best picks at affordable rates
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The haat starts at dawn and winds up by the afternoon. But with Durga Puja a month away, the hours have been stretched a bit
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A wide variety of saris — taant, jamdani, linen, tangail, soft cotton and semi-silk — are on offer. The sellers come from all over Nadia
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Saris are available at as little as Rs 200 and a lot of bargaining goes on. Many of the buyers are boutique or shop owners from Kolkata, who say the saris sold at the haat are of good quality and yet reasonably priced
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Customers can be seen buying piles of saris and transporting them to the station in vans. Though this is mainly a wholesale mart, customers can also buy one or two saris if they wish
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The trains back to Kolkata are packed with customers and their stacks of saris on haat days
