[nvramsub]

Thanks for sharing. Being a Bangalorean who is away from Bangalore for last 2 years, this brought back some old memories. And very interesting art and sculpture at the new boulevard. Nice to see the city is making efforts in encouraging these, as well as displaying history in a public place.

Thanks a lot.

[rakesh_r]

Thanks for sharing.I always had a soft spot for Bangalore especially MG road. Higginbothams brought back my old memories where i spent hours hunting for good books.Am surprised as to how an indian city can be kept so clean.Kudos to the local government.Mumbai is getting worse day by day.Hope to relocate to Bangalore some day as its only around 350Km from my home town Palakkad.

[kiranknair]

Thanks for pics - brought a nostalgic feeling. Somehow I hate the metro and feel it has destroyed the beauty of MG Road. I think everyone who has been in bangalore for a long time would agree that MG Road, Brigade Road and surroundings were the places where we would hang out on weekends. There were no malls then. That were the good old days.

[starfanrld]

Thanks for Sharing. Having lived here since i was born 1976 and having traveled to the North and West In India it is refreshing to see that Bangalore still has its old world charm and Good Old places that are still there even after ALL these Years.

One other place that is great is Coffee House for their economical breakfast of Scrambled Egg and Toast washed down with the Coffee or Cold Coffee. This is a perfect breakfast in my Book.

[laluks]

Was travelling and was away on yet another holiday. I was following the thread, but did not get time in hand to post a reply.

Originally Posted by Karthik1100

Yes. Now it's called Fame Shankarnag.
Galaxy, demolished a decade ago and now a Mall is being built!
Rex and Opera(non-functional), still exists.

Thanks Karthik. It's nice to get the names after a while!

Originally Posted by Hurrycane12

Lalu - You are right Barton Center still has the top floor restaurant called "13th Floor" I guess

Brilliant pictures and write up as usual, you brought a lot of memories back specially seeing the photograph of the TOI Building. I worked in the TOI building for 7 years and the day used to start very early to ensure I get parking either at Church Street or Rest House Road.

Frequented most of the restaurants around the place and every new joint was a must try. Lakeview apart from ice creams used to serve baked beans on toast and other delicacies during lunch hours.

Missing the Plaza Theater Building which is now the New Metro Station Building. TBHPian's family owned the "Phoenix Watch Company" which was situated at the entrance of Plaza Theater.

Wish the entire Bangalore city roads had the surface which MG Road has

It was Victoria Hotel, lovely place, had colonial styling and the food was very good.

Indeed it was 13th Floor. I recollect the name now!
I have seen Victoria hotel, never ventured in there for dining though!

Originally Posted by NPV

Airlines hotel is another landmark place, has a Corner House outlet as well in their campus. Easiest way to reach the place is to reach MG Road, Queen's statue/Chinnaswamy Stadium/Cubbon Park junction (aka Anil Kumble Circle) and turn left at Jewels De Paragon (it's the left turn after St Marks Road junction on MG Road). Then take the right turn (going straight will go back to Koshy's!) onto Lavelle Road. At the next junction, turn left and first campus to the right is Airlines - it has smaller buildings inside and lot of open space where cars are parked - usually jam-packed during peak visiting hours/weekends but worth a dekho if you've never been there

In fact the place is just about 5 minute walk from the Yusuf Arakkal art work, the Book/Bible society buildings, Hard Rock Cafe and Koshy's where you were on that Sunday, so give us another good read with nice pictures of this place as well

Thanks NPV. I'll try to have a dekho on Airlines Hotel and KC Das some day. When I indeed make it I'll get you guys some pictures

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

Ok. Let me help out here on the movie theatres in this area.

On MG Road, where the stairs to the Metro are we had "Plaza". Next door, where there is some construction going on, we had the bigger "Blue Moon" and the smaller "Blue Diamond".

"Symphony" still continues to be there at the PU Building. Now it is known as "Fame Shankar Nag", which is named after a very popular actor Shankar Nag, brother of another actor Anant Nag.

Down the road on Brigade road we still have "Rex" and opposite to that was another popular cinema of the 60s and 70s "Opera".

The one on Residency road you are refering to was "Galaxy", which has been demolished and a new luxury mall coming in its place.

The other end of MG Road, near Trinity Circle, we had "Lido", where we now have the buildings of "Fame Lido" and now the Hyatt Hotel.

Of all these the only ones left now are Rex and Symphony.

Thanks BeantownThinker for the details. Really appreciate that.

Originally Posted by vb-san

Lakeview was the one where you can order icecream from your car right?
My regular movie place used to be Lido – for the regular dose of Bollywood and Malayalam movies. Someone told me that Lido also is history now.

This is turning to be a nostalgic trip

Ice cream from the car! I am missing one such hotel from the late 80's in Trivandrum! Lido I saw had turned out into some malls, and I guess they would have multiplexes.

Originally Posted by abirnale

Wow, Laluks and Karthik1100! You guys have refreshed an old page in the memory! I remember my evenings 12 years ago when I used walk from Domlur cycle to MG road at least once a week to roam around MG road. Those were good old days. For past so many years due to distance from my current residence (at the end of south bangalore) and increased traffic at heart of the city, never visited this boulevard. Just few meetings at one of those hotels on MG road, that too chauffeur driven, did not make me realize the MG road charm as much as your write up did!

So, tons of thanks for taking us back into the past and making us realize the fresh new look MG Road boulevard wears today! Seems like its time to go back here with probably the little ones on early weekend morning

Thanks abirnale. When I posted the experience I never thought it'd stir a hornet's nest. I guess we are all missing our earlier days!

A trip early to MG Road would turn out nice as I surprisingly found out. Now I must gather some more courage to get back and visit Cubbon Park, Vidhana Soudha area etc...

Originally Posted by NPV

Wow, this is turning into a Bangalore Nostalgia thread.
Talking of theatres in that area:

• BRV Theatre was nearby as well on Cubbon Road/Central Street junction. Remember watching movies there.
• There was a Liberty theatre on MG Road but I think it made way for Blu Moon and Blu Diamond where I remember watching movies but not Liberty.
• the picture titled "This guy was playing cricket on MG Road!" in Post #3 - you can see Arya Bhavan sweets/Classic Business Centre - that also used to be a movie theatre called Empire. I don't remember going to a movie there, probably closed in 70's or 80's not sure.

.

Also, can't forget Dosa and coffee at India Coffee House and Premier Book House (Plaza theatre complex), Gangaram's book store nearby where we spent a lot of time.
And on Residency Road, anybody remember Hotel Sapna ? Another good place for Idli/Dosa!

NPV, indeed it is. Everyone turned nostalgic and thanks for sharing the thoughts.

Yes I remember coffee day. I loved their Masala Dosa's and Coffee, but hated their white plates and cups, which was already looking black due to the heavy usage! But then that was also a part of the charm.

How I miss the banana fritters and coffee of Indian Coffee House at Shangumugham, Trivandrum overlooking the sea!

Originally Posted by majumon

Laluks , awesome write up and a real eyeopener, I work on MG road and have never been on the route taken by you on the boulevard. Will surely do it thanks a ton.

Bangalore over the years was very informative. Bangalore was the first city in Asia to get electricity.

In college days used to hop off from the double decker bus at St Joseph's college stop, the bus route no was 138 which goes to Jeevanbhimanagar from Majestic and visit some pub, then eat parata at Kohinoors on Brigade road, watch a movie at rex or plaza or blue diamond.

Yeah! I remember the double deckers too. I mostly used to take it towards HAL Main gate.

Originally Posted by ratsharm

Incidently, MG Road was earlier name "South Parade".

Thanks for this piece of info. That explains why Koshy's had the name as Parade Cafe too!

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Are you referring to 13th Floor in Barton Center? Used to be a regular here. Not anymore. It is a great view from up there.

They have done a really good job of MG Road metro station. I won't say the same about the stations on the rest of the route.

Started my career days in Bangalore. MG Road was once a regular hang out. The day paycheck arrived, 50% of it ended up being spent at the one and only metal heads joint, Styx.

There was no other place to go to back in 2002. After a busy week at work, it was straight to MG Road every Friday evening. Tavern, Pico's, Styx, Guzzlers, 13th Floor, Legends of Rock (some years down the line) were my all time favorite hang outs. Some of these joints were bang on MG Road and some of them in the vicinity. There was no better location to hang out and it worked well for everybody.

Man your list of hangouts are amazing. Never been there other than a few times at 13th floor. I think once I visited Nasa!

Originally Posted by narendra.vw

Laluks,
I have driven on present MG road many times. Never thought we had such a good walk way. Thanks for detailed photos.

Mid 90's Me & my friends used to go to lake view MG road for deserts in TATAmobile. IT used to serve beyond 11.30 pm.

Thanks narendra

Originally Posted by TheHkrish

Thanks Lalu Sir, for making MG Road a pleasant surprise.

MG Road was and is a regular route ( only Walking) which we used to take on some weekends.

Hope you remember the old Indian Coffee House in MG road, which now have been moved to the Church Street.

Thanks

Thanks TheHKrish! Yes I do remember the Indian Coffee House

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Ultimate pics . Thanks for sharing. It brought back some of my old memories. If anyone visited our home in 80s and early 90s, MG road was the place where we used to take them to. This was followed by visits to Vidhana Souda, High Court and Cubbon park.

Never visited this new boulevard. Will try to visit next week since the Bangalore roads will be completely free. More than 50% of the (IT) population have headed back to respective hometowns on account of festivals and this will be the ideal time to roam around in Bangalore.



Ah! Double Deckers. There were two routes operated by then BTS i.e. 131 and 132. 131 between Majestic and Doopanahalli whereras 132 between Shivajinagar and Doopanahalli. As a kid, I loved sitting on the front seats on the top. Most of the Sundays, we used to head to Majestic from our home at Vijayanagar, catch 131, get down at Doopanahalli, catch 132, get down at MG road, walk to Cubbon park, enjoy a ride in Putani express and then head back to home at Vijayanagar. It used to take maximum half day to perform all these activities. I guess they introduced double deckers in the route 138 at a later point of time. There was one more double decker operated in Gandhi Bazaar route but it was cancelled after it toppled in one of the circles.

Thanks guyfrmblr. I kind of like your handle. Infact this thread could have been nice if opened by you. guyfrmblr writes about blr!

Yes, I was also the part of the crowd which went away from Bangalore last week. We made a traffic block at the exit toll gate, waiting for 2 hours to get a Rs20/- toll ticket to get out.

Did you by any chance made it to MG road in our absence ?

Originally Posted by NPV

"Rediscover Old Bangalore at Rangoli Metro Art Centre" - A chance to see some old photographs of Bangalore (exhibition at the Metro Rangoli Art centre on M G Road).

Source:New Indian Express - Link

The poster of the same was stuck all through the boulevard.

Originally Posted by nishantdlv

Laluks! The photos do all the talking! Great snaps!
I'm a Mumbaikar and our Mumbai Metro One Project is coming up! The boulevard along the metro there in Bangalore looks really well maintained and interesting, unlike ours! No offenses, but the project is about to open for public in coming months and I don't see such recreational stuff around!

Was there in Bangalore a couple of years back and I must say it is a well planned city with good infrastructure!

Thanks nishant. Yes, it helps to get a perspective from an out of town guy to make us love Bangalore back. In the daily rat race on the streets of Bangalore, we fail to see the beauty of this place.

Originally Posted by Auto Verruckt

This is an awesome compilation of snaps laluks. Ever since the Boulevard was razed down & the concrete structure came up, I hated passing by that road. The serenity of the good old MG Road has long gone but your pictures do add a whole new perspective to the way native Bangaloreans like me still view MG Road. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Auto_Verruckt. Glad to note the pictures gave you a new perspective of the area.

Originally Posted by Joe M

Nice write-up and awesome pics, laluks. This is a face of MG Road many of us Bangaloreans haven't seen. For us, MG Road means a just long parking space!.
Had always been curious about the beautifications near the Metro station but couldn't find the time to see it in detail. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Joe_M. Me too always used to think of MG Road as parking lot and never dared to venture there unless absolutely required.

Originally Posted by nvramsub

Thanks for sharing. Being a Bangalorean who is away from Bangalore for last 2 years, this brought back some old memories. And very interesting art and sculpture at the new boulevard. Nice to see the city is making efforts in encouraging these, as well as displaying history in a public place.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks nvramsub. Good to note that I was able to bring in some memories back.

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Thanks for sharing.I always had a soft spot for Bangalore especially MG road. Higginbothams brought back my old memories where i spent hours hunting for good books.Am surprised as to how an indian city can be kept so clean.Kudos to the local government.Mumbai is getting worse day by day.Hope to relocate to Bangalore some day as its only around 350Km from my home town Palakkad.

Thanks rakesh.
My memories about Higginbothams is reading the books there standing in a corner while watching the crowd behaviour. It was an interesting place.

Originally Posted by kiranknair

Thanks for pics - brought a nostalgic feeling. Somehow I hate the metro and feel it has destroyed the beauty of MG Road. I think everyone who has been in bangalore for a long time would agree that MG Road, Brigade Road and surroundings were the places where we would hang out on weekends. There were no malls then. That were the good old days.

I too tend to agree with you. The huge metro bridge has dwarfed everything there.

Originally Posted by starfanrld

Thanks for Sharing. Having lived here since i was born 1976 and having traveled to the North and West In India it is refreshing to see that Bangalore still has its old world charm and Good Old places that are still there even after ALL these Years.

One other place that is great is Coffee House for their economical breakfast of Scrambled Egg and Toast washed down with the Coffee or Cold Coffee. This is a perfect breakfast in my Book.

Thanks starfanld. Happy that I could rekindle some memories. Yes, Coffee House was a great place indeed.

[gtonsing]

Almost exactly a year old thread I bumped into. What a lovely photologue of MG Road. Though I am not originally from Bangalore, I have been calling this lovely place home for the past 13/4 years and I have seen the changes in and around MG Road (not to mention other areas). You have made us realise how many of us who used to frequent MG Road/Brigade road missed the olden days (I used to work in Manipal Center and so MG road was lunch area) Weekends would see us either on MG Road or Residency, Brigade Road. Christmas/New Year/Diwali nights would be lovely peaceful, un-crowded walks under the lights of Brigade Road at midnight (Tried that a few years ago - the street was full of rowdies - bad idea - left within 10 mins)
What a nice city we have! while we need to have development, we also need to remember the lovely old days while continue to appreciate the old.

[NPV]

This was the closest thread I could find to post this.

Now, there are more incentives to visit MG Road and surrounding areas, especially on Sunday mornings (yes, you may want to sleep more and get up late on sundays but this will be really worth all the trouble):
0.The MG Road Boulevard, of course!

1.Cubbon Park is a no-traffic zone so you can spend some good time, there are several groups who meet regularly like cycling, exercise groups, etc and the place is buzzing with activity. Also the band stand will have some event or other, mostly music related. Kids can have a field day cycling on the roads inside Cubbon Park There are also stalls by HOPCOMS, etc selling veggies, fruits, nursery plants, seeds, etc so you can shop as well!

*Please park your vehicle in a legal parking zone. The entrances to Cubbon Park beside the Aquarium and the the other one from near Minsk Square/BSNL office next to GPO allow vehicles to enter the Parking spaces.
I saw several vehicles parked all along Queens's Road and Kasturba Road in no-parking zones. While we enjoy the environs of the Park, let us be good citizens

2.The TenderSURE Roads around MG Road and Cubbon Park - Vittal Mallya Road, St. Marks Road are new with very good sidewalks so you can enjoy walking there early in the morning. Later, they generally are clogged with traffic and may not be as enjoyable with the Pollution and Sound.

3.Breakfast - you can try the Dasprakash hotel on the MG Road boulevard or the Konark inside Kanteerava Stadium.
*I don't have anything to do with either of these restaurants, posting from my own experiences!

[fusionbang]

Nice thread buddy with good pictures showing the beauty of MG road But it is a nightmare during weekends especially when the traffic piles up both on road and the footpath(too much crowd)

Originally Posted by laluks

I think some one drove me here for a dinner many years ago. Is there any restaurant up there?
Attachment 1158520

There are couple of restaurants in this building on 13th floor,
1. Ebony
2. On the Edge.

The restaurant is on the roof top and the view is amazing if you visit there for a candle light dinner