Kadalekai Parishe, the annual groundnut fair, is held on the last Monday of Karthika Masa (a month in Hindu calendar) near Dodda Ganesha temple, near the Bull Temple at Basavanagudi in Bangalore. The fair starts from the previous day with people thronging to the stalls selling a variety of groundnuts. The day is a full moon day, with vendors from our state and the neighbouring states bringing their first harvest to the market.
A legend behind the Kadlekai Parishe is that in the olden days, farmers were aghast to learn that their crop was being devoured in the night by some. One of the farmers wanted to investigate, and on Kaarthika Maasa night, which was pitch dark, he found out that the culprit was none other than Lord Shiva’s abode Nandi or Basava. Since then, farmers collectively pledged their first crop to Lord Basava.
Another legendary founder of Bangalore Kempe Gowda had come to the temple and learnt about the story. He had prayed for the welfare of the farmers at the temple, there, he had a vision of a treasure which he acquired later was used to build a temple based on the architecture of Hampi of the Vijayanagar empire. Incidentally, the Big Bull Temple or the Basava Temple, is on the hillock near Bugle Rock in Basavanagudi (Temple of Basava).
Farmers from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and locals offer their first crop to the Lord Basava. During this time, every year, 100,000 lamps are lit at the Bull Temple. This is accompanied by the annual fair for groundnuts. The entire Bull Temple Road will host the festive look during this time. The road is blocked from Bugle Rock to Ramakrishna Mutt.
The groundnut lovers find a variety of groundnuts from Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Kolar, Doddaballapur, Ramanagara and a few areas of Telangana in Andhra Pradesh. The ground nuts are spiced, fried, salted, boiled, sugar-coated, roasted. There are not just groundnut vendors but a whole lot of funfair. There are many toys for children and short buys and eats. Thus the garden city with its turbulent life and lifestyle has been struggling to keep some of the traditions like Kadlekai (groundnut) parishe (fair).