Kadalekai Parishe

If you are in Bengaluru around the last week of November, you must head to the annual groundnut fair, locally known as Kadalekai Parishe. This grand fair is organised for two days at Basavanagudi’s famed Bull Temple area. This is a harvest festival where farmers (who grow groundnut) from surrounding areas offer the first crop to Nandi, Lord Shiva’s mount. Legend has it that in olden days a bull would damage the groundnut crops continually and to appease him, farmers vowed to offer the first crop to Lord Basava or Nandi.
Farmers from surrounding areas like Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Kolar, Doddaballapur and Ramanagara also sell their crops at the event, and the whole place has a traditional village fair feel to it. Apart from groundnuts, both sides of the road are filled with all kinds of wares like trinkets, food, artefacts and more. The road is shut for vehicular movement on the main day. In all, this is a fun way to spend a day in the city but you must be mindful of the crowds.