Barak Valley · Eastern Himalaya & Brahmaputra Belt
The valley's central market — fish, shutki, satkora, gur and everything the household kitchen needs
The shutki sellers occupy their own section, and the difference between a puti shutki and a chapila shutki is argued out here rather than in any restaurant.
Cloth, ready-made garments, sari and household goods
Adjoins Fatak Bazar; the two together are the commercial centre of the region.
Phanek, innaphi, stoles and shawls woven in the settlement villages
Buying from the cooperatives, or from the weaving households directly in the villages, is the only way to be sure the cloth was woven in the valley rather than brought in.
Loose leaf sold from the gardens that grew it
Most Barak leaf is crush-tear-curl and goes to the auction and the blenders; the small orthodox lots are worth asking about at the gardens themselves.
Date-palm and cane gur, sold by the pot in the weeks after the harvest
Nolen gur has a season measured in weeks and no shelf life worth speaking of, which is why the pitha calendar is fixed to it.
Famous shops, markets and workshops in Barak Valley, and what each is known for. (5)