We religiously believe one should avoid waking up early unless something extraordinarily worth it requires it. Needless to say, there aren't many things we call "extraordinarily worth it", but something recently did made us wake up well before six, and happily so: a walk through Delhi's colourful flower markets (phool mandi).

There are three main flower markets in Delhi, each with a unique character. In the centre of town, near Connaught Place, is the flower market that colours Baba Kharak Singh Marg early every morning. While the dawn breaks and the city slowly wakes up, the sidewalks in front of Hanuman Temple became a magnificent carpet of cut flowers of any type.

The rhythm is frenetic, the flower merchants call to buy bunches of the most gorgeous lilies, roses, gerberas, and more. Bees and shoppers alike bounce from one seller to the other looking for the freshest bunch, the prettiest shade, the healthiest selection. It is a magic that begins at four in the morning and disappears at the sound of nine o'clock: before the offices and the shops open the sidewalk is clear, and the biggest flower market of India has left no trace behind itself.

In Old Delhi, a very early morning trip to Fatehpuri Masjid in Chandni Chowk, notorious location of the spice market, won't fill your bags with chilli pepper and cardamom but with genda phool (marigold flower). The genda phool mandi sells loose marigold flowers on the sidewalk around the masjid and vanishes before nine to give way to the spice trade. The mandi sells mostly genda phool, which gives it a distinct desi charm; it fills your eyes with bright orange and yellow and your nostrils with the perfume of marigold, and sometimes rose and jasmine. Also, at that time of the day the old city isn't frenetic as usual: the roads leading to the markets are almost empty, and just behind the flower sellers the Fatehpuri Masjid, which is a surreal oasis of peace even in peak hour, is relaxing and charming as ever.

The last market is completely different. In Mehrauli, South Delhi, the flower market is open all day and is in the middle plant nurseries and gardens, at walking distance from the Qutub Minar. While the other two markets come and go before the city life begins, this one has little stalls and a couple of shops on the side of a main alley. It's great for a walk during the day, we would suggest, though you might want to go there early in the morning to escape the fierce Delhi summer.

Now, while these charming markets have been a part of Delhi for ages, a recent governmental proposal is that they all be relocated to the outskirts of city, in one big day-long flower market. This would mean that the peculiarities of each market would be lost, and so would be one of the beautiful elements of urban heritage and aesthetic of Delhi.

Luckily, someone is doing something. The Genda Phool Project is trying to help the sellers organization in their battle not to have to leave their current markets and is organizing walks around the three main flowers markets - just like the one we did - to help people discover and enjoy their beauty and uniqueness.

We hope the Genda Phool Project succeeds in keeping these beautiful markets as and where they are, but just in case we recommend you wake up early one Sunday morning and soon go spend some time in the flower markets of Delhi. You can check with the Genda Phool Project if they are organizing a walk, or just go by yourself: sorry for the cliché but India is probably the place where colours were invented, now just add that to "flower market" and it becomes pretty obvious why you must go have a look.