India, Nov. 17 -- The Walled City dictionary

See the small tiled platform at the centre of the chowk. A few flowers are scattered about it. Now, a citizen steps out from one of the lanes intersecting at the crossroad. He walks up to the platform, and bends down, reverently laying his right palm on the platform. He brings the palm to his forehead, as if partaking something of the platform's divinity.

"Mata ki Chowki," he explains, turning towards Chawri Bazar.

Old Delhi's Chaurasi Ghanta Chowk however is not named after this platform, but after another sacred destination. That place is a full-fledged temple under a peepal tree, and stands steps away from the platform, across the lane from Banarasi Das Kachori Wale. Wedged between Jagdam...