Plastic ban, paper bags and peanuts at Kadlekai Parishe

Kadlekai Parishe opened unofficially on Saturday with thousands of people clutching paper bags full of freshly-bought groundnuts, owing to the temple management’s decision to ban the use of plastic bags on the premises. 

“We have instructed all the stall owners to strictly avoid plastic bags and buy paper bags to give away their peanuts. This is an attempt to reduce plastic waste and encourage environment-friendly shopping,” Aravinda Babu S R, Executive Officer, Dodda Basavanna Temple, told DH. 

On Saturday evening, crowds trickled onto roads around the Bull Temple to get their hands on the fresh stock of peanuts which have come from neighbouring districts such as Mandya and neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. 

With over 600 stalls on the footpaths on either side of Bugle Rock Road and Bull Temple Road, vehicles crawled and struggled to move, weaving through the road packed with pedestrians. 

The fair is expected to see a footfall of at least 4-5 lakh people over the next four days. Several sellers have fixed a rate of Rs 50-60 for one litre of raw or roasted groundnuts. 

Silambarasan, a resident of Kalasipalya who hails from Dharmapuri, remarked that the sales were slow on Saturday but hoped that they would pick up on Sunday and over the next week. 

“I got about 10 sacks of 40 kg of naati peanuts each roasted from Dharmapuri because it has to be roasted over a wood fire. It cost me Rs 350 to roast one sack. Using gas cylinders to roast the peanuts may be cheaper but simply won’t bring out the right flavour that customers usually look for.” He added that he joined hands with four other vendors to bring several sacks of groundnuts in a tempo from Dharmapuri. 

Srinivas, originally from Dharmapuri, explained that newer vendors would need to come to the temple authorities to ask for space. “My family has been doing this for generations, so we know well to come here earlier in the week to set up for the Parishe. Now that we have a spot, we will not leave this for the next three days, and will most likely be sleeping here too after packing up each night.” 

Lakshmi, a resident of Nagarabhavi, who came all the way down to Basavanagudi to buy fresh groundnut, remarked that the prices set by sellers at the Parishe were a tad bit higher than what was locally available. “I have bought about 4 kgs of groundnuts and I really hope the quality matches the rates,” she said.