Sunday, July 27, 2014

Tourist in my own city-1 : K R Market

“To learn photography, you need a landscape that is diversified with a compendium of the times gone by and the touch of sparkling freshness” said Anil and Abhi. The first thing and the only thing that came to my mind was– Namma Bengaluru.  My fascination for writing and my love for my city are now complemented with a DSLR in hand. As I try to get hold of the options in my camera, I’ll also present to you the places around Bangalore which has a story to be told. For now, I’m a tourist in my own city!

It is 6 in the morning. While every other city road is still getting up to its realms, K R market is already bustling with vehicles. There is a traffic jam here! I’m sure many of you are now wondering how I managed to walk the aisle even for a minute. “Ewwwww! Photo in K R Market?” said my wife. “Are you nuts?” said my mother. Yes, true. How unfortunate it is that we live in the despondent present. But my dear friend, everything has a past. Even K R Market!

K R Market, circa 1950s

Legends say that before it was named after Krishna Rajendra Wodeyar IV (also known as Nalvadi KrishnaRaja Wodeyar) as K R Market, the area was called Pete (means Emporium; a mart; a place of sale; as per Kittel’s Kannada-English dictionary).  The pete area is said to have been established around late 1530s by Kempegowda-1 after foreseeing the need for a common place for traders to sell their commodities, mainly flowers and vegetables. *1 And the commodities were bought from as far as the towns of Salem and Erode. As time progressed, the large pete area got drifted into smaller chunks called Bale-pete (Bangle market), Chikka pete (for textiles), Cubbon pete, Ganigara pete (for oil), akki-pete (for grains) and so many others.

Bangalore fort 1860s

The rush is so much that with much difficulty, I gain entry into the market. All the vendors are sipping their morning cup of tea amidst the diligent business. For a software engineer like me, it is surprising that in this bigbasket.com era, there are so many people buying things at the wee hours of a weekend. But Swamy, one of the fruit vendors tells me that they make very good business during this time. I cannot stop thinking if bigbasket guys buy stuff from here. Another green vegetable wholesaler Tayamma says that she sells all her commodities within 830 and gets back home. Looking at the number of buyers thronging in and the trade activities spilling over onto the streets of the K R Market, I’m pretty convinced about the freshness of the fruits and vegetables.

A vendor busy selling flowers inside Flower Market

There is also a flower market which sparkles with the insignia of colors. 67 year old flower vendor, Rajanna; who comes here to sell his home grown flowers all the way from Sira, a village which is 120km from Bangalore, tells me that he comes to K R Market thrice a week. In a day, he sells around a quintal of flowers and during festivals it goes up to 20-30 quintals a day, which include a wide variety of Mallige(Jasmine), Suryakanti (Sunflower), Roja (Rose), Sugandharaja (Tuberose) and Sevantige (Chrysanths). Another vendor Shaama takes pride when he says “There’ll be at least one type of flower purchased from us in every marriage that happens in Bangalore.

Rajanna, another flower vendor

Not just the market, the surrounding area has a lot of monuments that talk about the glorified existence of namma Bengaluru. Just a couple of 100 yards from the Market building, is the Kote (Fort), which was built by Kempegowda during mid-1500s and later modernized by Hyder Ali around 1760s. It is also said that this pete area was a war-zone during the third Anglo-Mysore war (1791 AD) when lord Cornwallis attacked it during midnight. As a proof, recently, Workers dug up a cannon weighing more than a ton belonging to Tippu Sultan era during Metro rail work in the K R Market area *4.  

Tippu's Palace - Front view

Kote Venkataramana Swamy temple which was built in 1689 AD *5, is one of the oldest lord venkateshwara temple of Karnataka.  During the same time, Tippu Sultan also built a palace, which is called Tippu Palace, is still erect. There is a mosque adjacent to the market building called Jamia Masjid which was built circa 1940s majorly with white marble. Post 1950, the commercial activity of K. R Market’s surroundings thrived; thanks to its proximity with the residential areas of old Bangalore, viz. Chamarajapete and Basavanagudi.  There were also a lot of theaters around this area, some of which are functioning even to this day and some are closed down.

Jamia Masjid, adjacent to Market building

The new market which was designed by Sri Lakshminarasappa on the model of Sir Stuart Hogg Market of Calcutta was opened on October 11, 1921. *2.  It has been close to a dozen of decades since this building is functioning. But it is visible that very less has been done to keep it in good shape. It is in ruins with water seeping from the top during rains.  The walls are shattered, platforms are uneven. They deserve better facilities and as always, the government has turned its blind eye after an armada of promises during the elections.

HMT tower clock, K R Market building entrance, from inside

I, Anil and Rahul meander enough around K R Market and come out to have a kadak chai. As we deliberate about its sustenance; the employment that it has offered to so many people; about its past, present and future, my image of it has changed.

For sure, K R Market does not have the loftiness of the best malls or the awe of most the eminent supermarkets in the city, but with this visit, I’ve realized that it is full of coveted things for the common man without which everyday life ceases to move on. Next time I pass it, I hope to forget the mires around and I’ll feel proud of the place which still has the ashes of the times gone by. At this moment, a quote is kindling in my mind that Plato once said about Greece!

This City is what it is because our citizens are what they are!

References:
*1 – Bangalore - The informal economy of the Historic Pete, Journal of the arts and heritage, UNESCO
*2 – History of Bangalore. K.R Market (Karnataka History)
*3 – Image – K R Market, circa 1950s. British Library
*5 - The New Cambridge History of India, volume VI
Photo credits: Anil and Rahul, and of course me!

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