Haat or hat, even haat bazaar, is an open-air market that serves as a

trading venue An exchange, bourse (), trading exchange or trading venue is an organized market where (especially) tradable securities, commodities, foreign exchange, futures, and options contracts are bought and sold. History 12th century: Brokers on ...

for local people in rural areas and towns of

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...

, especially in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

and

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

. 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. Please help expand this partial and alphabetical list. *

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

** Gohpur Haat Bazaar at

Gohpur Gohpur (IPA: ˌgəʊəˈpʊə) is a town and headquarter of Gohpur sub-division in Biswanath district in the Indian state of Assam. It is a historical place of Assam, where the famous freedom fighter Kanaklata Barua was born. The current MLA fr ...

is considered India's largest. *

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Dilli Haat Dilli Haat is a paid-entrance open-air market, food plaza, and craft bazaar located in Delhi. The area is run by Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), and unlike the traditional weekly market, the village Haat, ...

is a famous permanent market place built in traditional style which is open every day. *

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

, ** Gita Mahotsav at

Brahma Sarovar Brahma Sarovar is an ancient water pool sacred to Hinduism in old Kurukshetra city, in the state of Haryana in North India,India. Hinduism lays emphasis on taking bath for internal and external purity. Most religious sites have water poo ...

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 ...

, month long month Haat in Nov-Dec every year. ** Surajkund Haat at

Surajkund Surajkund is an ancient reservoir of the 10th century located on Southern Delhi Ridge of Aravalli range in Faridabad city of Haryana state about 8 km (5mi) from South Delhi. Surajkund (literally 'Lake of the Sun') is an artificial Kund (' ...

Faridabad Faridabad is the most populous city in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite cities around Delhi and is located 284 kilometres south of the state capital Chandigarh. The ri ...

in Haryana, month long Haat in Nov-Dec every year. *

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

Ekamra Haat Ekamra may refer to: * Ekamra-Bhubaneswar, a Vidhan Sabha constituency of Khordha district, Odisha, India * Ekamra Kanan Ekamra Kanan or Ekamra Kanan Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden and a park located in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. This i ...

is a permanent marketplace and a landmark famous for its art and crafts market in the capital city of

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

. *

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

Rampurhat Rampurhat is a city and a municipality in Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Rampurhat subdivision. According to Census 2011 Rampurhat is the third most populous city in Birbhum district and 82 ...

is a municipal town in India that grew around a Haat.

Bangladesh

Two districts

Lalmonirhat Lalmonirhat ( bn, লালমনিরহাট) is a town and district headquarters of Lalmonirhat District in the division of Rangpur, Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in Sout ...

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 Aitabare or Aaitabare ( ne, आइताबारे) is a market village that is the center of Ward 7 of the Kanepokhari Rural Municipality of the Morang District in Province No. 1 of south-eastern Nepal. The population of Kanepokhari Ward 7 in ...

, Sombare, Mangalbare, Budhabare, Bihibare, Sukrabare and Sanischare are some common Nepali town names that are named for the day of the weekly haat. Panchami, Nawamidanda, and

Saptami Saptami is the seventh day (tithi) of the fortnight (paksha) in Hindu lunar calendar. Festivals * Ratha Saptami: Lord Vishnu in his form as Surya is usually worshiped on this day. Usually, Rathasapthami begins in households with a purification ba ...

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