A Visit to Gandhi Bazaar, Bangalore

Gandhi Bazaar at Basavanagudi, is one of the few locations in Bangalore which has been famously known for food, silk sarees, puja items, vegetables, fruits and flowers. It has been a place which has been holding on to its values, and coping up with the competition of selling and buying, in spite of the mushrooming shopping malls in the city. Having been located in the place being called “Basavanagudi”, the bazaar is located near a historically important place. The Bull Temple which is the reason for the place to be called with that name; Basavana (Bull) and Gudi (Temple) in Kannada makes the bazaar be placed in an important part of the city . The bazaar, symbolic of its name, has Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in its vicinity, which implies that the place has been named after him.  It has both restaurants dating back to 1940s and also the latest additions of MacDonald’s and Cafe Coffee Day. A walk through the Gandhi Bazaar Main Road, is of a typical South-Indian experience.

It is a noticeable fact that there has no clear line been drawn in categorizing the shops. You find everything together in random order. The small juice shop may be just next to the biggest silk saree showroom in the street; which we may miss to notice. The puja items and the vegetables are positioned within the same line of shops, which makes it interesting to figure out. The latest phone shop in the street looks miss-placed amongst the busy stalls in the bazaar which claim their own identity.

A walk beginning from Ashrama Circle to Tagore Circle, or vice-versa, would provide you the best way of exploring the bazaar. You can reach Tagore circle from Jayanagar 4^th block by bus (K-3). As you begin your walk from Tagore circle, which is just near the fly-over on OVH road from Netkallappa circle, you would find the Basavanagudi Union and Service Club on your right. Continue to walk, your place of exploration begins.

The Gandhi Bazaar main road has a bag full of surprises to you. As mentioned earlier, the challenge of figuring out what you want out of the open random display of availabilities is on you. On your right you find ‘Adyar Ananda Bhavan’ ( Sweets and Snacks) just near the Canara Bank ATM. On your left you find ‘Shiv Sagar’ in competition with the opposite. Such are the kinds of options thrown in front of you; tough to decide. With the greenery of the trees shadowing the whole street, you can find on both the sides of the street, relaxed buying and selling taking place.

The street offers you an exposure to the variety of flowers, fruits and vegetables. As you walk through the pavements, you find numerous street vendors on both the sides of the roads and trying their best to earn a living. There are plenty of fruits for you with varieties of flowers. The fruits also dominate according to the season. Whichever fruit is famous in the season is dominantly seen. The flowers are also sold as garlands, which can be used for pujas. Some of these vendors are placed permanently in one place, the others mobile. The enjoyment of listening to the local language spoken in plenty with varying dialects may also catch your attention. The umbrella’s provided to these vendors with colours which contradict with what they sell, is another part to be enjoyed.

Another important part of the street to remember is the silk saree showrooms. Gandhi Bazaar is dominated by the Kancheepuram Handloom weavers. There are many showrooms and shops which offer variety of Kancheepuram handloom silk sarees. ‘Sanmohan silks’, ‘Sree Dharshan silks’, ‘Kancheepuram Vallalar Silk Co-op society’ and ‘Priyanka silks’, which offers Kanjeevaram wedding silks, are few of the names which can be reminded of when talking of the ‘silk business’ in the street. The variety of silk and handloom also includes places such as Punjab Handloom House, which is deviation from the regular Kancheepuram Silks you may find dominantly.

There is another important place which you cannot miss in Gandhi Bazaar if you have a special liking for Dosa. Vidyarthi Bhavan, which offers one of the best Dosas in the city with its special recipe, has a long history of nearly 70 years. The place has been a ‘must visit’ through the decades and it has witnessed the step by step progress and development of the city. It is still preferred by many for the amazing recipe it offers with acrobatics from its waiters; carrying some 20 plates of dosas together. The restaurant would be a site to witness and a flavour to be tasted. Apart from this restaurant, we also have places like Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan, Sugandha Sagar, Belagere Books and Coffee, Rotighar, Hotel Adhithya are few of those famous Indian food restaurants which offer delicious food.

The street is not an exception for the latest trendy restaurants too, which are comparatively new to Bangalore. There is Café Coffee Day on the way road and MacDonald’s restaurant at the end of the road, in the Asharama circle. The Asharama circle is a pleasant site to visit. With a monument of Swami Vivekananda, the circle which is a link to four different roads (including Gandhi Bazaar main road), is a pleasant and pleasing site. An evening walk in Gandhi Bazaar would not be complete without paying a visit to this circle.

The reason for this circle to be called as Ashram circle is that, just a hundred meters walk from this circle ahead will take you to Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, the monastic organization founded behind the legacy of Sri Ramakrishna, the great nineteenth century saint of Bengal. All people, irrespective of their religion, caste and nationality are welcome to visit that place to spend some time in peace of mind. The silent and peaceful environment provides you a chance to relax and to be in solitude. It would be a good choice to witness the peacefulness in the place in spite of the busy movements outside, just meters away. The temple and the shrine are nearly a century old, provide you the chance to appreciate the long line of history the place has witnessed.

With your visit being completed in Gandhi Bazaar and Ramakrishna Ashram, if you wish, you could end your walk with a visit to the famous Bull Temple, which is closer to this main road. Taking a left from Gandhi Bazaar main road will lead you Bull Temple road. The temple has been the symbol of religion, culture and tradition on the past, and symbolic of the place. Fifteen minutes of relaxed walk through Bull temple road will lead you to the famous Bull Temple.

(Credits to CitizenMatters as an Intern)