Haat bazaar

A haat bazaar, most often called simply haat हाट or hat, is an open-air market[1] that serves as a trading venue for local people in rural areas and some towns of Nepal, India and Bangladesh. [2]

People in weekly haat at Surunga, Nepal

It is the local market in which people gather from certain areas for buying and selling of goods. The people met to exchange goods and services with money. The sellers don't have fixed shops standby.

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.[3][4]

In addition to providing trading opportunities, haat bazaars gradually concentrate rural settlements and convert villages into small towns. In Eastern Nepal, most of the towns are named after the weekly haat. Aaitabare, 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 are towns named after the fortnightly haats, according to the Hindu lunar calendar.

Dilli Haat is a famous market place in Delhi. Rampurhat is a municipality in India.

People in weekly haat at Surunga, Nepal

India's Largest Haat Bazaar is Gohpur Haat Bazaar from Gohpur in Assam.

Two districts Lalmonirhat and Jaipurhat of Bangladesh have the suffix "haat" in their name, undoubtedly reflecting the presence of haat bazaars in those locations.