The Indian Coffee House on Hanuman Road sits inside a circular, concrete tower that looks like a relic of a different era. Built in the late nineteen fifties, the structure features a spiraling ramp that connects its floors, designed by…
Connaught Place Literary Trail
I will guide you through the historic independent bookstores, specialized map shops, and multi-generational literary hubs tucked into Connaught Place's radial lanes.
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1. Indian Coffee House
2. People's Publishing House
The People’s Publishing House is distinguished by its understated, narrow storefront tucked into a row of colonnaded shops. Founded in nineteen forty-two, this bookstore grew out of the Communist Party of India’s desire to disseminate…
3. Jain Book Agency
The Jain Book Agency sits behind a wall of glass and deep, mahogany-stained shelving that holds thousands of government reports and legal gazettes. In nineteen forty-four, a young man named Prem Nath Suri arrived in Delhi from Lahore with…
4. Anil Book Corner
The Anil Book Corner occupies a small, glass-fronted stall tucked into the outer circle of Connaught Place. It holds stacks of paperbacks that spill onto the pavement, crowded by local commuters and tourists alike. Anil Kumar, the man who…
5. New Book Land
New Book Land occupies a cramped, narrow stall tucked against the red sandstone walls of the Jantar Mantar complex. Its shelves are packed floor to ceiling with second-hand paperbacks, ranging from colonial-era surveys to dog-eared…
6. Lakshmi Book Store
The Lakshmi Book Store sits tucked behind a plain, faded facade, its narrow doorway overflowing with stacks of weathered paperbacks and political pamphlets. This shop has operated for decades as a silent witness to the protests and…
7. Amrit Book Co.
A small, weathered sign hangs above a doorway in the outer circle of Connaught Place, marking the entrance to Amrit Book Company. While the surrounding corridors are now filled with bright, modern storefronts, this shop retains the feel of…
8. English Book Store
The English Book Store in Connaught Place wears its history in a stack of weathered, hand-lettered wooden signs that lean against the shelves. Founded by Basant Ram Chaudhary in nineteen thirty-six, the shop specialized in military…