This week at The Musafir Stories we have historian, teacher and artist Sujatha Balakrishnan walking us through Bengaluru Pete area.
The founder of Bengaluru, Kempe Gowda-I established the city in 1537, he started this city at the Pete Area.
We explore and talk about different historical points from Hazrath Tawakkal Mastan Dargah to Dharmaraya Swamy Temple in the Pete.
Sujatha tells us about how the Tawakkal Mastan Dargah was built and the festivals celebrated there.
We then walk ahead to find the bygone Vijayalakshmi Theater and Mohan Building where once a Maratha King had his palace.
Then we come across the Doddapete area where Kempe Gowda once established different temples, markets and towers and fortified Bengaluru considering the Doddapete as the center point of Bengaluru.
Sujatha also discusses the different localities in the Pete area and how they got their names based on the commodity that was sold there and also based on the residents that lived there all the way from Balepet to Nagarathpet.
We then come across Taramandalpet, a place where Tippu Sultan had his rocket R&D. Taramandalpet which means a Galaxy of Stars!
Then our final stop is the Dharmaraya Swamy Temple which is dedicated to the Pandavas & Draupathi.
We finally hear about a strong and secular bond between our first stop, i.e. the Dargah and the last stop, i.e. the Dharmaraya temple.
Follow Sujatha Balakrishnan's Theater for Change here.
Sujatha's IMDB page.
Know more about Sujatha in The Passion People Podcast.
Big thanks to Suhotra Roychoudhury for his pictures of Bengaluru Pete area and for our cover image. Checkout Suhotra's website Unseen Destinations and his Instagram page.