With the temperatures gradually dipping, city residents are flocking the Potala Tibetan Market to gear up for the approaching winter season. The market offering a wide range of woolens for ladies, gents and kids is a one stop shopping center for all kinds of winter wear.
Located in the heart of the city at Jaipal Singh Stadium, this market is being put up in the Capital City for the last 48 years from now.
Run by Tibetan people it continues till the end of January 2019. The stalls have been put up by Tibetan refugees from Karnataka, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Smiling Tibetan migrants showcasing their winter clothes and accessories warmly welcome the customers to their stands. One such stall owner- Tenpell, a member of the Potala market, comes from a family which has been a part of the Tibetan market for three generations.
His grandfather and father first came to Ranchi 48 years ago. And later a young Tenpell would accompany his father to learn the nuances of the trade.
Talking about his experience he said, “It is one of oldest markets of Ranchi. It started from Firayalal Chowk in the early 1970s when my grandfather and father would come to put up a stall here. My parents came to India in 1959 with His Holiness Dalai Lama and since then we have been living here. Most of the shop keepers here are Tibetan refugees born in India. All the stuff in this market is very well priced and of high quality as well.”
Displaying an assortment of shawls, stoles, leather jackets and ponchos in a myriad of colors and abreast with the ever changing fashion trends, the market exhibits woolens as per the latest styles at very affordable prices. The popular bazaar has a total of 58 stalls for the residents of Ranchi to raid and give their winter wardrobes a total makeover.
The Potala Tibetan Market was inaugurated on October 30 by the Urban Development Minister of Jharkhand C. P. Singh at Jaipal Singh Stadium, Ranchi. Lamp lighting and prayers for His Holiness Dalai Lama and world peace were also part of the program. Treasurer Lombsangh, president T. Damdol and vice- president Tenjng Lundop among others are the organizers of this much sort after woolen market in the city.