Exit traditional bukhari, enter Turkish inglenook: Come Chillai Kalan, sale of eco-friendly fireplaces surges in Kashmir

Srinagar, Jan 09: Turkish bukharis are selling like hotcakes in Kashmir.

Thanks to Chillai Kalan, Kashmiris are trying imported fireplaces to keep themselves warm this season.

Till now, people were using traditional bukharis. However, it was made of tin and consumed a lot of wood.

Now, iron-made Turkish bukharis have hit the markets in the valley. Sales of foreign inglenook are witnessing a huge surge.

“This winter, our sales  have surged. Because of its benefits, people are replacing traditional bukaris with Turkish ones,” said Salman Malik, owner of Bismillah Departmental Store, a dealer of Turkish bukhari in the valley.

A Turkish bukhari costs between Rs 16000 and Rs 1.30,000. “We import these bukharis from Turkey and they are smokeless. It has an oven which can be used for cooking. There are various types of Turkish bukharis, which are best suited for Kashmir winter,” Malik said.

Such is the demand for the Turkish bukharis that most of the stockists have run out of stock. “We are getting fresh stocks now. We also supply these bukharis to other places, which include Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh,” he said.

Sajad Ahmad, another dealer from Srinagar, said that Turkish bukharis are environment-friendly. “It takes very less time to heat. The entire bukhari is enclosed and compact. It doesn’t produce enough smoke. In coming years, we feel that these bukharis will completely replace the traditional ones,” he said.  

 Customers said the inglenook has more benefits than traditional bukhari. “First of all, Turkish bukharis emit more heat and have more life compared to the traditional fireplaces. A user can also bake in Turkish bukhari. We have been using this bukhari for the last one month and it has solved our problems,” said Sami Khan, a resident from Pattan.