Even the big villages in India do not posses any permanent market with the a building of its own. Every village has a small bazaar, with only few shops along the main lane of the village. These few shops do not even sell all kinds of articles. They are mostly grocery shops which supply the urgent needs of the people. Or there may be one or two mixed shops which sell, grocery, clothes and several other articles fior their daily use. In villages even to-day marketing is a matter of barter. The villagers pay in kind for what they purchase. Rice and wheat is paid and accepted as price for vegetables and even articles of grocery.
Really speaking, the village market is one day bazaar. It is held once a week on a particular day. Who fixed up this day and when? The villagers themselves do not know. But the same day is continuing as the market day. Different villages have different `market days’. We find there is a common market for group of neighboring villages, each of which is too small to have a separate market. The village market is an open air market, it is held in the traditional open space either in the center of the village or on the outskirts of it. There is no dearth of open space in a village. Except the market day, this open space is an unfrequented and uncared for open space. But on the market day, it assumes great importance.
The village market has a very short span of time. It starts a little while after sunrise and closes a little before sunset. In this short period, this open space becomes a center of great activity whose noise can be heard from a distance. In the early morning, the shop owners began to arrive in the village. They bring their salable goods either in a bullock cart or horse back. They pitch their temporary tents in two lines with enough space between for the persons to move about that bazaar complex.