5-day Basavanagudi Kadalekai Parishe off to a start

BENGALURU: The historic Kadalekai Parishe (groundnut fair) at the Dodda Basavanna temple grounds in Basavanagudi got off to a start on Monday. The fair was inaugurated by Transport and Endowments Minister Ramalinga Reddy, along with MLA Ravi Subramanya, MP Tejasvi Surya, and others.

During the inauguration, Dodda Basavanna was offered groundnut abhisheka, and a tulabharana ceremony was performed with groundnuts. The minister also fed groundnut plants to five oxen.

The minister mentioned that the fair has a 500-year history and was started during the time of Bengaluru founder Kempegowda. He also emphasized the importance of keeping the fair eco-friendly and announced that strict action would be taken against those using plastic.

The fair will run for five days until November 21 and around five lakh people are expected to attend. There will be approximately 5,000 stalls selling fresh and roasted groundnuts. However, the prices of groundnuts have increased this year, ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 140 per kg, compared to Rs 60-70 last year.

The fair will feature a variety of groundnut-based products, and the Bengaluru traffic police have made arrangements to manage the crowd. The police have instructed vendors to clear the roads and avoid occupying the middle of the road. A control room has been set up to monitor the crowd through live locations. Last year, the fair attracted over 5 lakh people, and this year is expected to see a similar turnout.

Additionally, the minister discussed the upcoming Metro project extension up to Tumakuru and emphasised the need for more Metro services in Bengaluru to reduce traffic congestion. He suggested that the Metro network should be expanded fourfold and that the frequency of trains should be increased.

Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya commented that people often have to stand in the Metro due to overcrowding and suggested adding more coaches to the trains and increasing the frequency of trains to every 5 minutes.