A Chaupal (Hindustani: चौपाल or چوپال), or chopal, is a community building or space in the rural areas of North India and Pakistan.
In larger villages, the chaupal may be an elaborate structure that also doubles as a community guesthouse (or mehmaan khana).
[2] Although chaupals are fundamentally a feature of rural life, in the popular perception a chaupal is any place where people "sit and discuss their problems, celebrate their pleasures, share the pains of an individual, family or a particular group, sort out their disputes."
It is "a sacred place of secular nature" that "guarantees freedom of speech and expression to everybody.
"[4] Television talk shows, online websites and forums affiliated with the region sometimes attempt to mirror that atmosphere of free conversation and social engagement by including the term "chaupal" in their names.