Soumya Geetha, a consultant by profession, is extremely passionate about photographing culture and the streets, besides being a rabid traveller. She captured the above bull at the heart of the city - in the Pete. She writes: "During my street photography exploits in the city, I have often encountered traces of other cities in Bengaluru. This particular scene, deep in the by-lanes of the Pete, reminded me of the narrow streets of Varanasi where cows had the right of way. It was also strange because I assumed that given the location of the neighbourhood and its obvious lack of space,…

  Women of the Tigala community looking their best during the Karaga festival at the Dharmarayaswamy Temple. The Tigalas, also referred to as Vanhikula Kshatriyas, are by tradition, gardeners and flower traders whose contribution in nurturing many of the city’s parks including Lalbagh is widely acknowledged. They believe that are the descendants of Veerakumaras –‘hero-sons’, a warrior clan that the mythological princess Draupadi put together to fight the demon Timarasura. A section of the Pete (old Bangalore) area is called Tigalarapete, recognising the predominance of the community in the region. They celebrate what is arguably Bengaluru’s biggest and most well-known…