(This month, each day, except the four Sundays, I will be blogging about interesting features associated with Bengaluru, formerly known as Bangalore, as part of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge)
The best-known landmark here is a restaurant with the unlikely name of Vidyarthi Bhavan, which roughly translates as Students' Home. There is a reason.
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| Photo source: Vidyarthi Bhavan |
It was founded in 1943 by Venkataramana Ural primarily to cater to schoolchildren.
In 1970, it was sold to its present owner Ramakrishna Adiga. During these 78 years, it's been untouched by the designs of modern architecture.
While the clientele was students back then, it's people from all walks of life today.
The everyday rush of people to savour the delicacies -- mainly masala dosa -- is so much that people wait patiently for as long as an hour for their turn to be let in.
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| This is just one part of the famous restaurant. Photo source: Vidyarthi Bhavan |
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| This is the spices market. But one can buy many other items, like daily provisions, too from this street. Photo sources: The Culture Trip |
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| The flower market is very popular. Photo source: TripAdvisor/Cooltraveller2015 |
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| One of the road intersections at Gandhi Bazar. Photo Source: Wikipedia |
https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/Food/their-dose-tastes-of-nostalgia/article5544575.ece
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidyarthi_Bhavan
https://metrosaga.com/things-to-do-in-gandhi-bazar-bengaluru/
https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/opinion/sunday-read/the-grand-old-gandhi-bazaar/articleshow/57469865.cms
Photo of Gandhi Bazar
https://www.tripadvisor.in/Attraction_Review-g297628-d4401019-Reviews-Gandhi_Bazaar-Bengaluru_Bangalore_District_Karnataka.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=152934973
Interesting. Looks like Gandhi Bazaar is like the Ranganathan Street in T.Nagar, Chennai.
ReplyDeleteYou can Wikipedia Ranganathan Street in Google.
DeleteHari Om
ReplyDeleteOh yes, every city must have such a street, heh na?! My mouth is watering at the thought of masala dosa... YAM xx
Hi Yamini - Masala dosa seems to be popular world over! :-)
DeleteIt's great when something keeps the old name and decor even when it has evolved into something else.
ReplyDeleteVery familiar and homely place. Several decades back we lived very close to Gandhi bazaar. I often go there whenever I visit Bengaluru.A home to Basava temple with a big bull idol and a Ram temple
ReplyDeleteHi KP - Okay. I am sure plenty of nostalgic memories.
DeleteI've heard of Vidyarthi Bhavan but did not know the backstory behind it. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHi Sunday Visitor - Thank you. :-)
DeleteMasala dosa sounds so good....I may have to try conjuring up some myself. Curry is wonderful. I am here from the A2Z and I love that we get to learn about other cultures and meet people from all over the world. Maybe you would like to visit my Garden
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day.
Cheers,
Crackerberries
Hi Crackerberries - Thank you for being a part of A to Z. Because of which, like you rightly said, we are learning a lot about diverse cultures, and meeting people from varied backgrounds.
DeleteI am following your posts and enjoying them as well.
Thanks, and take care. :-)
I have not visited this bazaars but it reminds me of Sarojini Naidu s poem on the bazaars of Hyderabad ...I love flower and Garland shops
ReplyDeletehttps://pagesfromjayashree.blogspot.com/2021/04/giants-grawp-and-ghatothkacha.html
Hi Jayashree - Flower shops are quite common here.
DeleteGreat post, I must visit Gandhi bazar onceš¤š¤
ReplyDeleteYou're tempting me again to taste masala dosa. Blessedly, we have a source here in the Midwest United States. This history is fascinating, too, so thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Darla - O, good you have a place nearby where you get masala dosas. Glad you like them.
DeleteHi Pradeep - it certainly sounds a delightful place to visit once there - but with such tempting foods, spices and history abounding. Really interesting - thank you - Hilary
ReplyDeleteYou had me at "masala dosa". The best Indian restaurant in my city has closed recently. They held out as long as they could with no new tourists coming in but in the end... CURSE COVID!
ReplyDeleteMy mouth is watering now. I think I'll have to see if the one remaining Indian restaurant offers dosai.
Hi Red - Glad to know that South India's very own masala dosa is popular in Vietnam too. Sad the restaurant had to close. Hope you get to have one in a nearby outlet.
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