Bazaar Walk – Wandering through the streets & lanes of old Pune……

Posted on December 10, 2015

The history of Pune (a city in Maharashtra, India) begins in the 6th century, and is closely linked to the history of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha empire, and to the Peshwa, the ministers of the Maratha empire. Having said this the city has got a rich cultural inheritance. Since last decade and a half, the city is transiting towards more of a modern and “smart” city. But the cultural and traditional values are still alive! Especially in the old part of the city.

I was born in late 80’s and I spent my childhood in parts of old Pune. I very well remember people used to shop around mainly in areas like Lakshmi Road, Tulshi Baug, Mandai, Ravivar Peth etc. But since last decade, with introduction of so many lavish malls around Pune, a lot of people tend to shop at these malls. And the recent trend? Online shopping! Yeah…. it has made us more lazy. People have gone crazy behind the “Big Billion Day” sales and simply order absolutely anything just from their mobile or PC. So certainly, effect of these modern trends can be seen in the local markets of old Pune.

Last month, Janwani had organized a small event of exploring old shops in Pune city. I was waiting for this event since long and there was no chance I could miss it. And believe me, this 2 hour walk through streets of old Pune, made me relive the city and its values. Now my belonging to this city has become stronger!

Here’s a photo essay of the walk:

This is one of the few old shops near Tilak Statue @Mandai selling betel leafs. The shop owned by “Ghotavdekar” is more than 100 years old. Betel leaves are valued both as a mild stimulant and for their medicinal properties.

And this area has couple of street vendors selling fresh fruits…

One of the old grocery shops @Mandai

Burud ali is the lane of bamboo and cane workers. The number of weavers is barely a handful and remnant of the large group that came from Satara, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad to Pune in the 18 Century. Legend has it that the buruds made baskets in which flowers were carried by Goddess Parvati when she would go to worship the Vad tree on Vat Purnima. From finely-woven baskets of various sizes to sturdy ladders, mats and blinds, to tiny kulfi sticks and shoots of bamboo, lamp shades and brooms, burud ali has it all!

Quite an old shop selling colorful traditional varieties of bangles…

This is why I find street photography quite interesting… it offers you to shoot offbeat subjects which you would never normally expect….This one is a mask to keep evils away….

The area around Tulshi Baug is full with shops selling steel and brass utensils….this one is one of such old shop… Tulshi Baug gets its name from the Tulshibaug wada located in this area, which is a famous temple of Lord Ram, Ganpati and Shankar.

This is the ancient temple located in middle of Tulsi Bag. The original temple was built during the Peshwa era, after the battle of Panipat in 1761, under Naro Appaji Khire (Tulshibaugwale) (1700-1775), the Subhedar of Pune. Work commenced in 1763 and was completed in 1795 at a cost of Rs 136,667 and it covers an area of about an acre. In 1884 Nandram Naik completed work on the spire (shikhar) and the Sabhamandap. The Tulshi Baug Ram Temple dates from the original construction under Tulshibaugwale. The statues of Lord Ram, Sita, and Laxmana, made by Umajibaba Pandharpurkar, were placed in the sanctum of the temple in November 1765. In 1767, the statue of Lord Hanuman, crafted by Bakhatram Patharvat Gujrathi, was placed in the sanctum. Later in 1781 statues of Ganpati and Parvati were brought to the temple. Ornaments in gold, silver, pearls and diamonds were made for these statues.

Old architecture and carvings @ Tulshi Baug Temple

Known as “Vili (विळी )” in marathi, this is an household item for cutting vegetables….

As you come from the Northern entrance of the temple you see a two storied construction called Nagarkhana. Shrimant Madhavrao Peshwa started this Nagarkhana as he had vowed before Lord Ram that he would do so if he won the battle of Kharde. There is a big percussion instrument called ‘chaughada’ in the Nagarkhana. The beats of the chaughada reverberate in the premises thrice in a day; at dawn, in the evening and at midnight.

The old mythological paintings on the walls around Tulshi Baug take you back in historical era….

And with streets full of interesting subjects, how can one resist to click the essence of the moment?

During festival time, especially during Diwali, the streets come alive with numerous vendors selling these beautiful lamps which are known as “Aakash Kandil’s” in Marathi.

Shopping in and around Mandai and Tulshi Baug always offers you with some interesting items like the one below.  This man is selling musical instrument locally known as Damru. Its associated with Lord Shiva and many of the foreigners especially in Goa love playing this….

Maharashtra is a state which was once ruled by the great warrior king Shivaji. He had so many forts under his kingdom which were tactically used to defeat the enemy. To keep the history of forts alive in future generations, there is a tradition of making clay/sand models of these forts during Diwali festival. Below shown are the clay models of various groups of people who used to stay on the forts.

The age old buildings or “Wada’s” are still holding strong..

These are the colorful traditional sarees in the ‘cholkhan aali’

This is the famous shop “Murudkar Zendevale”. They are masters in making turbans and ‘pagdi’s’ as well as flags of numerous countries. Its their ancestral business and they export their ‘pagdi’s’ to more than 30 countries.

Generations today, want their hair to be cut only @ Javed Habib’s or similar salon….Hope these traditional salons in old Pune would survive in coming times….

You can often see these street artists performing various art forms on streets of old Pune to earn their livelihood…

Although one might be addicted to lavish beverage outlets like Cafe Coffee Day etc, one can simply not miss the famous “Amruttulya’s” while in Pune. These are typically small tea outlets where piping hot tea is prepared round the day. The tea has a peculiar taste due to additional ingredients that go in like ginger, cardamom etc. Along with the tea, these outlets serve cream rolls, doughnuts and some local snacks as well…Its an absolute delight to sip a cup of tea at one of these outlets and feel refreshed!

It has become so common for us to buy shoes for each and every occasion….and what do we do if our shoes get slightly torn or such? We simply throw them away and get a new pair. But with this, the profession of shoe makers and shoe patchers is literally dying. The old shoemaker in the picture below, probably earns his entire livelihood by repairing and patching shoes and sandals. But looks like days going to get tough for people with such professions, sad but true!

Pune is often referred as city of pensioners….because of calm and relaxing environment in Pune, many of the retired people prefer to stay here…

Before concluding, I find it worth mentioning about 2 other shops in Old Pune. (I don’t have their images at the moment). Vitthaldas Narayandas & Sons, established in 1883 is a shop in Fadke Haud, Budhwar Peth, Pune. They specialize in making high quality agarbatties (incense sticks) ,dhoops, attars, perfumes and other items for worship and spiritual use. They have their own workshop where incense sticks are hand made. They use pure and natural ingredients. All ingredients, mainly essential oils, aromatic wood powders, herbs and resins are selected from the best source available. Utmost care is taken that there is no wastage of natural raw material and the whole process is ecologically friendly.The quality is super fine and they export their products to around 50 countries. The other shop is Kale inks & nibs, located near Dagdusheth Ganpati temple. This is again a very old shop and they manufacture ink pens, nibs & ink. I am sure many of the generations in past decades must have used their pens. Unfortunate enough, recently I came to know that they don’t manufacture pens any more and the business is sinking! The reason is quite obvious. How many of us really use pens for daily work? We all have laptops, smartphones and tablets to take notes. And even if we use pen then mostly its a ball pen type. So ink pens are finding it really hard to survive!

So I really hope next time you think of shopping, you’ll certainly make your way in the old part of the city and get nostalgic! Ohh yes and I forgot to tell another thing…once you are drenched off after shopping, you can refuel yourself at following eateries:

1. Shri Krishna – Tulshi Baug – Mouth Watering Misal Paav, Buttermilk and Kanda Bhaji (Onion Pakoda’s)
2. Hotel Ronak – Tulshi Baug – Delicious Paav Bhaaji & Pulav
3. Kaware Cold Drinks – Tulshi Baug – Softy Ice cream
4. Navratan Bhel & Pushkarini Bhel- Kumthekar Road
5. R. Bhagat Tarachang – Laxmi Road, Opposite Om Supermarket – Nice place for lunch & dinner. Must try items – Special Chapati, Dal Ka Sheera