Heera Mandi, What's left of Pakistan's Red Light District?

Heera Mandi is Pakistan's most famous red light district and is located in the Punjabi city of Lahore. It is a neighbourhood and bazaar located in the Walled City near Taxali Gate and Badshahi Mosqueand it is sometimes referred to as Shahi Mohallah ("Royal Neighbourhood") and occasionally spelled Hira Mandi. Heera Mandi is also the setting and main theme of Netflix's new series Heeramandi by Sanjay Leela Bhansali that will be released soon.

Notoriously, during the day Heera Mandi is much like any other Pakistani bazaar but at night the brothels above the shops open. The place is also considered as a symbol for the city of Lahore and sometimes the words 'Heera Mandi' themselves are considered to be offensive informal talks. However, in my personal experience I couldn't find anything that made me think that I was in a red light district except for very few women and Hijra - transexual men - secretly offering their services. This may be because of the government's crackdown on prostitution or more likely because it was Ramadan therefore it is recommendable to abstain from sinful activities.

It is named after 'Hira Singh Di Mandi', meaning Hira Singh's food grain market. This later got transformed to the modern name Heera Mandi. The market had historically been the centre of the city's refined tawaif (entertainer) culture since the 15th and 16th centuries.

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[stevilburgess]

Heera Mandi is safe as . i walked around the area many times all hours as a westerner. love the old buildings people are very friendly. only the traffic water was scary. recommend it as a tourist spot.

[rajeeramakrishnan]

You are from brother? Very nice video👌

[zara-cmkv]

wow this is so interesting! after watching heeramandi on netflix i wanted to see if the tawaifs still existed now

[mohammadibnallah]

I am a foreigner and gay. I rented an apartment near this area and almost every single man wanted to vome to my room. Some where very old and many very very young. I spend 1 year there and brought to.my room a huge amount of men. They are easy to get.

[balkanbald]

It appears that bread production is now more profitable than the world's oldest occupation 😮