Most Bengaluru residents rush past familiar streets every day without realizing the rich history hidden beneath their feet. From colonial cocktails to forgotten battlefields, the city's urban landscape holds layers of stories waiting to be discovered.
Curated Walks Reveal Bengaluru's Layered Past
As part of Anubhava Hubba under Bengaluru Hubba, a series of carefully curated heritage walks is drawing citizens into the city's fascinating history. These walks span ten days and take participants through multiple locations including MG Road, Avenue Road, Gavipuram, the Cantonment area, and KR Market. Heritage collectives like INTACH, Bengaluru by Foot, Gully Tours, Heritage Beku, Suchitra Deep, and Bengaluru Prayana lead these explorations.
The initiative highlights how Bengaluru's evolving urban landscape continues to carry traces of war, water systems, colonial life, and community memory beneath its modern surface.
How Malaria in Bengaluru Created Gin and Tonic
Few Bengalureans sipping a gin and tonic on MG Road realize the drink has its roots in colonial India's battle with malaria. During the Colonial Crawl heritage walk, historians explained how British officers in India relied on quinine-based tonic water to prevent malaria. They mixed it with gin to counter its bitterness, accidentally creating one of the world's most popular cocktails.
The story was narrated fittingly near Tonique on MG Road. The walk also revealed that the building housing Hard Rock Cafe once served a very different purpose. Established in 1860, it was home to the Bible Society Press, where the first Kannada Bible was printed.
A century later, Queen Elizabeth II visited the site in 1960 to mark 100 years of the publication. This history now remains largely forgotten amid Bengaluru's vibrant nightlife and music scene.
Forgotten Battlefield Beneath Avenue Road
Few Bengalureans walking through the crowded lanes of Avenue Road realize they are moving through the site of a decisive 18th-century battle. In March 1791, during the third Anglo-Mysore War, British forces launched the Storming of Bangalore. They laid siege to Tipu Sultan's fort that then dominated this area.
What is now a dense commercial corridor was once open ground outside the fort walls. British troops advanced here, artillery was positioned, and fierce fighting unfolded over several days. Over time, the once-extensive Bengaluru Fort was dismantled and built over as the city expanded.
Today, only a small surviving section near KR Market remains. Avenue Road now bustles above what was once a significant battlefield.
Hidden Hillocks and Forgotten Towers of Gavipuram
Many people remain unaware that Gavipuram, better known for the Gavi Gangadhareshwara temple, hides some of the city's most unusual 16th-century remnants. During recent heritage walks, participants discovered Harihara Gutta, a little-known hillock dotted with structures dating back to the Vijayanagara period.
Among them is a rare stone umbrella-like structure whose purpose remains debated. Some believe it represents a symbolic Vishnu chakra, while others see it as a watch point. The walk also revealed three lesser-known watchtowers resembling Kempegowda's iconic boundary towers.
This discovery challenges the popular belief that only four such towers exist in Bengaluru. Participants also saw centuries-old sluice gates near the shrinking Kempambudhi Lake, reminders of the city's once-sophisticated water management system.
Commercial Street's Hidden Residential Past
Most Bengalureans see Commercial Street as a chaotic shopping hub, rarely realizing it once doubled as a lived-in neighborhood tied closely to the British cantonment. During heritage walks, participants learned that shops occupied the ground floors while families lived quietly above them.
Unlike Residency Road or St Mark's Road where British officers lived, Commercial Street housed service communities. Dhobis, merchants, carpenters, bankers, and traders who supported British lives made their homes here.
Their compact homes blended South Indian layouts with subtle European influences. They featured katte seating, internal courtyards, and tight corridors designed for joint families. Few shoppers walking into the Zudio store on Commercial Street realize the building once housed Woody's, one of the old and most loved eateries.
Long before that, the same premises functioned as the shop of Ruben Moses, a Jewish craftsman known for making customized handmade leather shoes for European clients including British officers. The building's journey from a colonial shoe shop to a beloved eatery and now a retail chain quietly mirrors Commercial Street's transformation from a Cantonment-era marketplace to a modern shopping hub.
Preserving Vanishing History
Bhavana Jain from Gully Tours shared her perspective on these heritage walks. "I was born and brought up in the Cantonment area, and I've seen homes, families and entire neighborhoods disappear over the years," she said. "These walks are my way of collecting, documenting and holding on to whatever little history still remains before it vanishes completely."
The heritage walks continue to reveal how Bengaluru's streets hold more than just traffic and commerce. They contain living history that connects the city's past to its present, offering residents new ways to understand their urban environment.
