In pictures: Going nuts at Bengaluru's Kadlekai Parishe, a unique groundnut festival

The Bull Temple Road wore a festive look on Tuesday evening, as hundreds of Bengalureans, men and women, young and old alike descended on the area for a one-of-a-kind celebration.

Drawing them there were the mountains of groundnuts that adorned the lanes of this south Bengaluru neighbourhood.

The Kadlekai Parishe, celebrated in Bengaluru’s Basavanagudi, is the city’s unique tribute to the humble groundnut.

Each year, farmers and traders from Karnataka, and the rest of the south, come to Bengaluru with truckloads of harvested nuts.

First, the farmers make an offering to the deity of the Bull Temple, a 16th century temple after which Basavanagudi is named.

Legend has it that in ancient times, at every full moon, a bull would attack the peanut fields that then covered the Basavanagudi area. Worried farmers turned to the deity, Basava or Nandi, praying for an end to their woes, and offering tribute of their crops in return. When Bengaluru’s erstwhile ruler Kempegowda built the Bull Temple, this ritual centred around it, thus marking the beginning of the Kadlekai Parishe.

After offering their tribute at the temple, the farmers then take the remaining crop and sell it on the lanes near the temple.

This year, the festival saw a massive bounty of groundnuts, after a bumper harvest thanks to a good monsoon. This also meant far lower prices than last year, which drew much larger crowds to the festival.

On offer were a diverse variety of groundnuts in raw, roasted and boiled form.

The unique fair is a mainstay in the local calendar, and draws multitudes of Bengalureans from across the city.

While the main attraction is the kadlekai, the Parishe, like any other local fair, draws many of kinds of traders, selling a multitude of things in the crowded lanes of Basavanagudi.