Malleswaram Street Art Trail - Walls that speak about the Locality

Malleswaram is one of the oldest areas of Bangalore and is a better planned locality with mains and roads cutting the area in a grid format. I have known Malleswaram from a long time since I did my schooling from one of the famous schools of Malleswaram. But recently when I was part of this Mural trail walk, I was amazed seeing how these small conservancy lanes of Malleswaram has been lit up now with colorful and creative murals.

During Pandemic, around 12 artists from Geechugalu(means scribbles in Kannada) team planned a mural trail along some of the prominent lanes of Malleswaram with each art depicting something about the area. This campaign was called “Malleswaram Hogona”(Lets go to Malleswaram 😊).

Malleswaram Mural trail walk was organized by a team called BengaluruPrayana and since I am a mural lover I registered for this event. Total walk duration is 1.5 hours covering around 1.7 kms.

Mural #1 – Greetings from Malleswaram

We all met at Malleswaram 18th Cross Bus stand and started our walk from the first mural “Greetings from Malleswaram” which has been painted on the wall across the bus stand by artist Saksham Verma. You will find Malleswaram painted both in Kannada and English in bold colorful lettering with each alphabet filled with locally identifiable visual cues right from Coffee, auto, Sankey Tank, dosa cafe, flower market etc. This is in fact a good spot since 18th Cross bus stop is a starting point for many buses and is easily noticeable. There are QR codes placed around each mural for you to know about the artist and the significance of the mural. 




Mural #2 – Svagata (Welcome)

This mural welcomes you with marigold flowers and ladies from 3 different generations welcoming you in their own style depicting how caste played a vital role here. As you enter the lane, you will first find an old lady with her hands folded at the back depicting that she is not keen on welcoming guests. Second you will find a young woman dressed in traditional attire holding a rosewater dispenser in her hand depicting that she is waiting to welcome guests. Lastly you will find a small girl dressed in traditional attire facing people and wholeheartedly welcoming people with hands folded (Namaste).





Mural #3 – Once upon a time there was a tree

This mural is dedicated to Sampige flower by artist Chandan B.V. One of the most famous and prominent road of Malleswaram “Sampige Road” has been named after this flower since once upon a time this area would blossom with Sampige flowers.




Mural #4 – Malleswaram's Sparrows (Gubbachcigalu in Kannada)

Malleswaram was home to a large population of sparrows once upon a time. Now with the dawn of urbanization(especially mobile towers), you can hardly see them around.  You will find all 4 stages of a sparrow attempting to fly which indeed has been painted very beautifully. This was painted by artist Spandana Vella. 

 





Mural #5 – Kaapi Kudithiya? (Do you want to have coffee?)

This mural depicts an old grandma pouring hot coffee into a steel tumbler. Most of the Bengalureans can relate to this I am sure😊

 


Mural #6 – Powrakarmika (Civil Servants)

Powkrakarmika’s are the most critical workforce who maintain our streets and are silently responsible for the cleanliness of the areas we live in. This mural has been dedicated to Narayanamma who has been ensuring daily that the bylanes of 13th cross is kept clean and well maintained. And I really appreciated this idea of dedicating one wall to Powrakarmika’s since their contribution to keep our society is usually unnoticed. Beautifully done by artist Parameshwar Waran. 




Mural #7 – Within her stride

This mural by artist Anup Varkey showcases the stride of a saree clad woman during her daily commute along the streets of Malleswaram. This has been painted on the Malleswaram Seva Sadan wall which is a significant cultural space run by women. 







Mural #8 – Gejjeya Naada (Sound of anklets)

This mural represents completely the music and dance elements of Malleswaram since this area is also home to many music and dance schools. This mural is located aptly on the walls of Seva Sadan (Right next to “Within her stride” mural) which is a space for cultural performances. All the elements of music and dance has been beautifully captured in this wall by artist Shreevyas. 












Mural #9 – Malleswaram in a glimpse

This wall is dedicated to Malleswaram’s natural biodiversity, and you will find all important flowers painted like sampige, neem, Jasmine and many more. And this wall leads directly to Malleswaram’s famous flower market.




We also passed by some famous temples along Malleswaram 11th and 8th cross.

Sri Venugopalaswamy Krishna Temple, 11th Cross, Malleswaram


This is my School 😊. So nostalgic....


Mural #10 – Sakkere Kaddi (Sugar Candy)

This is truly nostalgic. How many of you remember the sugar candies we used to enjoy savoring in our childhood, and we would get them in different shapes like watches, toys etc? Well, this wall is dedicated to bring back Malleswaram’s old charm and joys of childhood by artist Shivu Mahesh.




Mural #11 – Post it ("Post Madi" in Kannada)

This mural has been painted on the wall at the back of Malleswaram Post office by artist Abhijeet Rao. One portion of the wall has been painted with front part of the postcard with “Circle Maramma” Devi’s photo as the logo on the top right corner. The other portion has been painted with back side of the postcard again depicting various elements of Namma Bengaluru.  


And this is where this mural trail ends. Now we felt wish there were some more of them (as always yeh dil maange more😊). 

It was a well spent Sunday with a soothing colorful treat😊. This trail is a must visit for mural lovers. Thanks to BengaluruPrayana team for organizing this walk because I don’t think so I could have explored this on my own.

Wish other areas of Bengaluru also get such makeovers thereby using art as a medium to uplift streets, making the lanes more pedestrian friendly and also letting the people know their locality through these art forms.

Related Blogs

Malleswaram Temple Trail

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