Malleswaram Miscellany

A Slice of Life in a Bangalore Neighborhood
First Online: April 17, 2002
Page Last Updated: February 17, 2024

Introduction

We've lived in Malleswaram (mull-ae-sh-war-rum) in the city of Bangalore for many many years and I am familiar with every street and corner of the old Bangalore neighborhood. Historically, Malleswaram dates back to the Maratha times (Shivaji's brother Ekoji is said to have built what is now the Kadu or Wild-Malleswaram temple), and geographically extends from Yeshwantpur in the north, bordering the great campus of the Indian Institute of Science, to what used to be the Minerva mills, and from the Milk Colony to Vyalikaval extension horizontally. The grid of roads are called main roads and cross roads (like avenues and streets in USA), and it is one of the few places in India where you can locate a house by its address (see: Amusing Postal Addresses from India).

© K. L. Kamat

A Street in Malleswaram -- Painting by Artist Shivanand Bekal

The neighborhood of Malleswaram hosts traditional people, spiritual people, ordinary people, and extra-ordinary people. Nobel laureates (C.V. Raman), and world champions (Prakash Padukone) live or lived here, so did many writers, scholars, musicians (Doraiswamy Iyengar), and educationists (M.P.L.Shastry). The poor, destitute, and beggars also call it their own and make a living in the large number of temples, and churches located here. The  flowering trees on either sides of the streets hide all the pollution, and the popular street-side eateries obscure some of the finest south Indian restaurants in the city. 

Welcome to the neighborhood of Malleswaram!

-Vikas Kamat

Pictures of Malleswaram

• At a Dance School in Malleswaram
• Brahmins Gathered for Spiritual Renewal
• Broken Road, Unbroken Spirit
• The Chariot Festival of Malleswaram
• Inside of Venugopalaswamy Temple Complex
• The Kumkum Vendor Padasali
• Lady with Aarati Offerings
• M.E.S. College Building
• A Multi-storied Flat Complex
• The Peanut Shop of Malleswaram
• Portrait of H.R. Keshava Murty
• Road Side Magazine Vendor
• Senior Citizens of Malleswaram
• Sign of the Times
• A Snack Vendor in Malleswaram
• A Street in Malleswaram -- Painting by Artist Shivanand Bekal
• A Street in Malleswaram Neighborhood
• A Street in Malleswaram

Hotspots of Malleswaram

• MES College on 15th Cross
• Chitrapur Mutt Complex, 15th Cross and 8th Main -- hub of Chitrapur Saraswats
• The Hurigaulu Angadi -- Peanut Shop on Sampige Road
• The Janata Hotel -- famous for Masala Dosa
• New Krishna Bhavan -- home of south Indian delicacies opposite to the Bashyam Park and Sampige Cinema
• Veena Stores -- delicious roadside breakfast on Margosa Road and 15th Cross
• Ubhaya Vendanta Sabha -- Society for philosophical debate
• Kendriya Vidyalaya on 18th Cross
• MLA (Malleswaram Ladies Association) School
• The Cluny Convent on 13th Cross
• The Malleswaram Railway Station
• The Tonga stand at Malleswaram Circle
• Nandini Bakey (no longer in business, but was an institution of a long time, opposite to 15th cross Vegetable market)
• The Loveluck Stores
• The historical Kadu Malleswar Temple on 15th Cross

See Also:

• My Own Private Bangalore -- Kamat's photographs of the other Bangalore, featuring common sights and people of the city.
• Chariot Festival of Malleswaram