Chor Bazaar located near Bhendi Bazaar in South Mumbai

South Mumbai

South Mumbai , sometimes incorrectly referred to by English Media as "SoBo" , the southern-most precinct of the city of Mumbai, India, comprises the city's main business localities and its adjoining areas...

, is one of the largest flea market

Flea market

A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...

s in India. The word Chor means "thief" in Hindi-Urdu. Initially, though , it was called Shor Bazaar; Shor in Hindi meaning Noise. The place was noisy and full of chaos. It still remains so. Chor bazar is Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

's famous thieve's Market where tourists rummage for Ming vases and Muranos at throwaway prices. The main avenue is Mutton Street, flanked by rows of little antique shops that sell just about anything at bargain prices, including colonial-era lamps, Art Deco clocks and trinkets of every kind. A store called Mini Market also offers old Bollywood posters for sale. Others offer authentic Victorian furniture, wonderful for browsers, antiquarians and restorers. Although bargains are sometimes staggering, haggling is considered mandatory. This area can be considered one of the tourist attractions of Mumbai.

This is basically an "organized" flea market, where one has to rummage through junk and hopefully find treasures. The reason it is known as "thieves market", is because it is assumed that goods sold there are stolen. Chor Bazaar is off the beaten path, but everyone knows about it. It is basically a maze of alleys.

The largest flea market opens on every Friday and the days proceedings end only by the evening Muslim prayers i.e. Magrib. This is one of the reasons it is also called as Jumma Bazaar.

The primary source of 50% of the stuff that is sold in Chor Bazaar comes from another Flea Market called the Waghri Bazaar. It is situated at the grounds of Lane No 13 , Kamathipura

Kamathipura

Kamathipura is Mumbai's oldest and Asia's largest red-light district . It was first settled after 1795 with the construction of various causeways that connected the erstwhile seven islands of Bombay, initially known as Lal Bazaar, it got its name from the Kamathis of Andhra Pradesh state, who as...

, near Mumbai Central. This wholesale flea market opens up at 4 am every Friday and closes by 8 am. Most of the sellers are Gujrathi Hindus and most buyers are Muslim dealers from Chor Bazaar.

These buyers own shops in Chor Bazaar and thus by 9 am on Friday they open up their businesses.

There's a saying about this area, if you lose anything in Mumbai you can buy it back from the "Chor Bazaar". It has been mentioned in popular novels like Rohinton Mistry

Rohinton Mistry

Rohinton Mistry is an Indian-born Canadian writer in English. Residing in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, Mistry is of Indian origin, originally from Mumbai, Zoroastrian and belongs to the Parsi community. Mistry is a Neustadt International Prize for Literature laureate .-Biography:Rohinton Mistry was...

's Such a Long Journey

Such a Long Journey

Such a Long Journey is a film based on the novel of the same name written by Rohinton Mistry. It is directed by Sturla Gunnarsson from a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala.-Plot:...

as "not a nice place".