Haat or hat, even haat bazaar, is an open-air market that serves as a trading venue for local people in rural areas and towns of Indian subcontinent, especially in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Haat bazaars are conducted on a regular basis, i.e. or that is once, twice, or three times a week and in some places every two weeks. At times, haat bazaars are organized in a different manner, to support or promote trading by and with rural people.access date March 2015access date March 2015 In addition to providing trading opportunities, haat bazaars serve as meeting places, rural settlements come up around the haats which gradually grow into towns.

Bilateral Haats at international borders

Border Haats of India with neighbouring nations includejointly-run bi-lateral Haats at designated places on India's border with neighbours such as on India–Bangladesh border, India-Bhutan border,

India–Myanmar border The India–Myanmar border is the international border between India and Myanmar (formerly Burma). The border is in length and runs from the tripoint with China in the north to the tripoint with Bangladesh in the south. Background Description ...

, and

.Closer economic ties with neighbours vital
The Hindu, 7 May 2019.

List of popular Haats by country

India

In India, street vendors legitimately operate under the

Street Vendors Act, 2014 Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of India enacted to regulate street vendors in public areas and protect their rights. It was introduced in the Lo ...

. Please help expand this partial and alphabetical list. * Assam ** Gohpur Haat Bazaar at Gohpur in Assam is considered India's largest. * Delhi ** Dilli Haat in Delhi is a famous permanent market place built in traditional style which is open every day. * Haryana, **

Gita Mahotsav Gita Mahotsav or Gita Jayanti is an event centred around the ''Bhagavad Gita'', celebrated on the Shukla Ekadashi, the 11th day of the waxing moon of the Margashirsha (''Agrahayan'') month of the Hindu calendar. It is believed the ''Bhagavad G ...

at Brahma Sarovar in

Kurukshetra Kurukshetra (, ) is a city and administrative headquarter of Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is also known as Dharmakshetra ("Realm of duty ") and as the "Land of the Bhagavad Gita". Legends According to the Pura ...

in Haryana, month long month Haat in Nov-Dec every year. ** Surajkund Haat at Surajkund in Faridabad in Haryana, month long Haat in Nov-Dec every year. * Odisha ** Ekamra Haat is a permanent marketplace and a landmark famous for its art and crafts market in the capital city of Bhubaneswar. * West Bengal ** Rampurhat is a municipal town in India that grew around a Haat.

Bangladesh

Two districts Lalmonirhat and Jaipurhat of Bangladesh have the suffix "haat" in their name, undoubtedly reflecting the presence of haat bazaars in those locations around which these cities grew up.

Nepal

Eastern Nepal, most of the towns are named after the weekly haat. Aaitabare, Sombare,

Mangalbare Mangalbare is a town located in the Deumai municipality in Ilam District in the Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 5,593 persons living in 1005 individual households. Now, Mangalbare and dhu ...

, Budhabare,

Bihibare Bihibare ( ne, विहिवारे) is a village in the Kanepokhari Rural Municipality in the Morang District of Province No. 1, south-eastern Nepal. It is the center of Kanepokhari Ward 6, which had a population of 5,771 in 2011. Location ...

, Sukrabare and Sanischare are some common Nepali town names that are named for the day of the weekly haat.

Panchami Panchami is the fifth day (tithi) of the fortnight ( paksha) in Hindu lunar calendar. Festivals * Nag Panchami is a Hindu festival celebrated by Hindus in most parts of India. It is celebrated in Shravan month. On this day, people worship Nāga De ...

Nawamidanda Nawamidanda is a village development committee in Panchthar District in the Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of S ...

, and Saptami are towns named after the fortnightly haats, according to the

Hindu lunar calendar The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a s ...

References