Koley wholesale market

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26th March Koley Wholesale Market #heygo http://www.heygo.com

Koley Market is situated just beside the Sealdah Station, which is one of the busiest railway stations in India. Kolkata city officially got two major railway stations, Sealdah and Kolkata railway station. The famous Howrah railway station is officially not in Kolkata city but it is in Howrah city which is just the opposite side of Hooghly River – a tributary of the Ganges.



Koley market is a place where the farmers bring their fresh vegetables to sale at a wholesale price; retailers come here to buy from them. On average, the minimum purchase should be 5 kilograms which is known as one “Palla”.

In Koley market, almost all farmers use the beam balance for the weighing and very few sellers use electronic weighing machines. This market is open 24 x 7 x 364 days (only closed during the Holi – the festivals of colors!).



The vegetables that get sold here are green papayas, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, jack fruits, cauliflowers, cabbages, lemons, drum sticks, point gourds, bitter gourds, raw turmeric, tamarinds, green chilies, pumpkins, elephant feet, carrots, beans, garlic and many many more. The unique thing of this market is when a vegetable sack arrived here, around 4/5 porters carry a single sack (weighs around 200kgs+) on their heads and transfers it to the designated place for sale.

men known as “turban wallah” lift 500 kilo sacks of vegetables over their heads to carry inside.



Many of the sellers put colored cellophane on the overhead lamps to make the vegetables even prettier.



It was mayhem inside the market but organised mayhem. Porters were resting in between their shifts. A lot of hustle & bustle so difficult to get a good signal but the guide certainly ensured we had a great experience.

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