A Vegetable Market That Stays Afloat

The enigmatic floating gardens of Dal Lake has a unique charm to it. A beautiful amalgamation of matted vegetation and aromatic earth, these floating gardens possess superb veggies that come fresh from farms like cucumbers and tomatoes. The Dal's floating vegetable market before daybreak is a great photogenic opportunity, with colorful vegetables being hawked on similarly colorful shikaras, and it offers you a taste of a relatively new custom. Vegetable growers come rowing on their shikaras, carrying green leafy vegetables, cucumbers, water chestnuts, to sell them to the land agents.

The floating market of Dal Lake; Image Source: YouTube- Sachin Suryawanshi

Chirping birds and floating boats; Image Source: Tale of 2 Backpackers

One of the main attractions of this mesmerizing lake is its floating vegetable market. It is perhaps the only traditional floating market in India that has a unique way of growing vegetables and fruits inside the marshes of the lakes. After healthy produce comes into being, the sellers and farmers carry them on their boats and bring them to sellers via the connected canals, which have their own shops on the land.

There are plenty of floating markets all around the world and farms that thrive on lakes—starting from Cai Rang floating market in Vietnam to the Solomon Islands market and Damnoen Saduak floating market in Thailand. But the heavenly state of Jammu and Kashmir also has its very own floating market where locals buy directly from the beautiful canoes that remain afloat throughout the year.

The subzi bazaar comes to life in the wee hours of the day and shuts down when the sunlight touched the blissful waters of Dal. Considered to be the second largest market in the world, the first being the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, this market came to public attention when a Japanese photographer captured some of the best moments from this market.

Back in the fourteenth century, a king named Ghiyasud-Din Zain-ul-Abidin called engineers from Sindh who were monikered meerabs. They were given the responsibility of cleaning the weeds from the lake. It was then that the meerabs were compensated by being given the duty of the lake's fish and other goods, which led to the creation of floating gardens when the lake was stabilized.

From the blissful land of Kashmir; Image Source: Pinterest

When markets turn into social gatherings; Image Source: WanderWisdom

A florist named Mr. Wonderful brings various assorted flowers, including marigolds, ipomoea, daisies, blue mink, and zinnia. The market is more like a social place where shopkeepers chat and exchange news. This market has been functioning for the last hundred years and even on curfew days, the market functions normally.

Even with all these beauty and advantages, Dal Lake faces a huge disadvantage. All the living organisms in the lake are threatened with diseases due to increasing pollutants. The people dwelling in houseboats dump all their garbage in the lake, turning it into a swamp.

An interesting fact to note here is that this market has a turnover of Rs. 35 crores, almost $5,000,000 USD! To witness the beauty of the market, one must wake up early to catch hold of a shikara. The boatman will row you across the narrow alleyways filled with Dal water, in the wee hours of dawn. On your way, you can see the radiant yellow sky with splotches of black indicating that the sun has not yet woken up fully and the birds chirping to the rhythm of the oars.

Now, this community lives near the areas surrounding Dal, and every day, they pick up their shovels and clear the snow to grow their vegetables. This is not just a vegetation practice for them, but an heirloom they want to pass on to the next generation. All the items that are sold on the boats are grown in the very same lake. The farmers and suppliers step out of their homes at 4 am and head towards the floating gardens to reap the harvest of the veggie. After that, all the vegetables are taken to the subzi mandi which is located in the center of the lake.

There is no permanent location in the lake where all the sellers gather and sell their fresh produce. Instead, they keep on rowing their boats until they get the customer on board. Donning long and thick sweaters, the sellers sit cross-legged in the boat to protect themselves from the chilling environment. This is one of the few markets in India where the barter system still prevails.

The people on the boat conduct business in both ways- with the local traders adopting the barter system, but the tourists and visitors assume the modern currency system. People in here don’t sell products in small quantities but believe in the wholesale system where they can sell in bulk. The various products are available on the boat range from green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, and carrots, to turnips and lotus roots. This market also produces and sells the famed Kashmir flowers.

Nestled in the north Indian city of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, the famous Dal Lake is a sight to behold. Literally translating to a lake in Kashmiri dialect, this stretched-out urban water body plays a quintessential role in various facets of the city ranging from farming, tourism, fishing, recreational, and commercial activities.

However, the concern is that about 6.9 kilometers of the lake are in danger because of pollution. This can be very detrimental to Srinagar’s only lifeline if people do not take the necessary steps to end this encroachment. Sprawling over an area of 18-22 square kilometers, the vast sheet of Dal reflects the fine woodworks of the balconies of the houseboats and the snow-capped tips of the Pir Panjal mountain.

During the Mughal era, the lake was a summer getaway for Sultans. When you sit in a shikara and row through the waters of Dal, you will realize that it’s not just a lake, but a small city. Literally, everything that is available on the land is afloat here. Be it floating houses, markets, schools or farms, and post offices, Dal has everything that can mesmerize you. A fleet of houseboats that remain afloat throughout the year lure travelers into spending some time in the floating world.