I arranged the Malleshwaram tour for a group of 14 of us with Poornima, who we found out is a local from the district, making her particularly knowledgeable. I travel quite frequently for both work and leisure and often book local tours to learn about culture, food and architecture. I have to say that this was one of the best tours I've been on. I was impressed with the range and depth of her knowledge related to history, architecture, planning, religion, education--even geology! She was able to answer questions thoughtfully without being scripted. She was also quite personable and took the time to ask everyone to introduce themselves--she used that info to add topics to her talk. I highly recommend this tour. We also booked the Sultan walking-biking tour they offer in collaboration with OnaPedal, which was fun but not as informative.

When a cousin of ours visited Bangalore, and wanted to see some of the not-so-very touristy attractions, we zeroed in on Unhurried.in for their "THE SILK ROUTE TALES" covering Ramanagaram (for Silk) and Channapatna (for wooden toys).

It was quite an enriching experience, with Poornima sharing a lot of nuances and details which we would have otherwise never got to know. She answered all our questions with lot of patience and covered various aspects from Silk worm rearing, to silk cocoon auctions to how silk yarn is weaved into a silk sari (at some weaving units in Bangalore).

Not often do we take the time to take a step back and understand how things (we take for granted) work. This tour with Unhurried actually helped us exactly with this.

Unfortunately no photos to share, but do experience this first hand.

Recommended !

I booked a half day, private tour of the Pete (Pe’tah). My guide was Poornima, the owner and operator of Unhurried. Poornima is a historian and author with a wealth of knowledge of the history and culture of the area.

The tour started at the top of Avenue Road, a former gate to the old city of Bengaluru. Nothing remains of the gate but the Hanuman Temple remains in use where the Monkey God would have watched over the gate guard. From here, Poornema gave an outline history of the old city.

Poornima walked me down Avenue Road, pointing out that the old city was planned on a grid which was divided up by the different trades that operated there. Each trade would have a deity and a temple associated with it and while the trades may have changed or moved on the place names and the temples remain.

The old city was always intended to be a trading bub with people from all over India. Then as now, the old city is made up of many cultures, languages and religions, all living in remarkable harmony.

We walked up many of the side streets. Poornima gave a history of each bit are we visited, some ancient and some recent and personal, such as her mum’s favourite sari shop and the places she ait as a child. I was introduced to local shop keepers including a musician and artisan who made and repaired Tabla (drums), see picture.

We visited a Hindu temple where Poornima explained the significances of some of the iconography and the rituals and we were blessed by the Brahmin.

We also visited a Jain temple, entirely finished in intricately carved white marble.

Included in the tour was brunch at Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan.

In all very satisfying for the mind, body and spirit. But only scratched the surface of this antient and complex culture. A wonderful experience and highly recommended. I only wish I had time to go on the many other tours Unhurried have to offer.