Shopping in Rishikesh

Shopping in Rishikesh is a famous pilgrimage site and is also well-known for the adventure sports activities made possible by its landscape. These two activities are followed by shopping, which is a great activity for tourists to indulge in when not at the temple or river rafting. Rishikesh is noted for quite a few products, most notably pooja essentials, sarees, shawls and religious artefacts. The town has a few great places to shop that are a must visit. Through this article, we take you to the best places to enjoy shopping in Rishikesh.
Rishikesh Main Market
This is one of the largest markets and considered to be the biggest shopping centre in Rishikesh. Filled with all kinds of products ranging from food to perfumes, this is a one-stop shopping destination for travellers and tourists. To get the best possible experience in this market, do try to visit it either in the morning or the early hours of the evening to get a feel of how lively this market is and get a taste of the local life of Rishikesh.

Garhwal Wool and Craft Shop
One of the oldest and most popular stores for winter clothes, this store offers a wide collection of woollen clothes like scarves, mufflers, and sweaters, and all at very affordable prices. However, this store is not just famous for its fine collection or quality of products. The owner and the staff who work at this store are extremely kind and friendly, will engage in a friendly conversation with most of their clients and even offer you a hot drink and some local tourist tips as well.

Laxman Jhula Market
Rishikesh is, after all, primarily a religious city and many tourists who visit are looking to buy some religious idols and pooja essentials to take back home or gift to their loved ones. This market is the perfect place to shop for oils, incense sticks, religious books and idols. Apart from these things you can also find small street stores which sell small wooden handicrafts and junk jewellery. Do make sure you bargain, as the street sellers are likely to overcharge tourists.

Gole Market
Why buy designer sarees when you can design your own sarees? At this small but busy market in Rishikesh, you can shop for a variety of clothes and materials for ethnic and western clothing. You can even make your own saree from scratch, selecting the saree material, border material and blouse material according to your preference. During the colder months, you can also buy a lot of winter clothes here.

Music For Soul
If you are still old school and like listening to songs and music on CDs instead of downloading them off the internet, then you will absolutely love a visit to this small store which has a large collection of trance and spiritual music. From chants to prayers to religious music, this store has it all and the store staff go out of their way to help you find the kind of music you’re searching for. Even if they don’t have what you’re looking for, they will readily order it for you, if you have the time to wait.