Tourist Hotspot

Vijay Thiruvady, touted to be a walking encyclopaedia on trees and gardens of Bangalore, rightly says that conducting walks when people are advised to maintain social distancing seems out of the question. “Walks are done for a group of people, and social distancing can’t be maintained. People are afraid; why would they come and put their lives at risk?” he questions. Associated with nature walks at lung spaces, Lalbagh and Cubbon Park, besides Military heritage walks for over fifteen years, his passion raises his spirits to organize walks; he has also authored a book “Heritage Trees.” An employee of the oil and gas industry for over 30 years, he maintains he is not affected by the discontinuation of walks but would be happy to hit the trail once the situation is better.

Bangalore’s culture and heritage walks are planned across the city.

It is not surprising to note that the dampener on walks has forced many to look for alternative professions to keep the money rolling. Mansoor laments losing some assistants who switched jobs, while he has found succour in architectural assignments. His calendar earlier chock a block with about six walks per week, now looks desolate, at least till the business regains the desired momentum.

Take a walk in Bangalore

Fashioned on London walks, Bangalore’s culture and heritage walks are planned across the city covering major tourist spots like Lalbagh, Cubbon Park, KR Market, Tipu Sultan Palace, Bull Temple, Heritage Homes, silk factories, handicraft emporiums… the list goes on. These walks are usually organized by people who are well-versed with the city and its glorious history and provide a peep into the folklore associated with monuments. Walkers are mainly foreigners willing to explore the city on foot, at a cost which generally covers refreshments and transport. The guided tours kick off early in the morning, with a lip smacking South Indian breakfast. Often taking the unbeaten path, heritage walks are quite popular in Bangalore as walkers get to move in an unhurried manner in old areas like Malleswaram and Basavanagudi, the famous localities that make up the fictitious town of “Malgudi” invented by the leading Indian author R.K.Narayan in his stories.

A few hotels he regularly visited with walkers for authentic South Indian meals have been sold off by owners as months of lockdown plummeted the business drastically. Furthermore, activity at silk weaving and handicraft factories, his sought-after spots, has come to a complete standstill as migrants have gone back to their villages. A hundred-year-old house in Basavanagudi, which belongs to the grandson of the Diwan of Mysore, M.N.Krishna, and declared a heritage house by INTACH (Indian National Trust of Art and Cultural Heritage), is too out of bounds as the elderly owners are wary of entertaining tourists.

Apart from the regular heritage walks, food walks aimed at exploring local cuisine, have in recent years been quite attractive as they cover routes leading to some top quality restaurants, mainly popular for the non-veg platter. The Festival season usually brings swarms of tourists but the coronavirus has indeed brought the curtain down on many activities and the next big event said to suffer from the unpreventable loss is Dussehra, an annual Hindu festival. Bangalore yearns to see the hustle bustle back in its streets and markets where stories await to be retold, cherished and carried by the tourists.