Mahatma Phule Mandai (''formerly known as Lord Reay's Market'') is the biggest retail vegetable market in the city of

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The market is housed in an iconic building from the British colonial era in the Shukrawar Peth locality in the center of the city.

History

In the early years of the British rule an open air vegetable market used to be held outside the

Shaniwar Wada Shaniwar Wada is a historical fortification in the city of Pune, India. Built in 1732, it was the great seat of the Peshwas of the Maratha Empire until 1818. Following the rise of the Maratha Empire, the palace became the center of Indian poli ...

. This shifted to an indoor place built by the Poona Municipality. The construction of the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style building started in 1882 and took 4 years for completion. It was designed and built by Walter Ducat and Vasudeo Kanitkar with significant input from engineer Narso Ramchandra Godbole. The Market at opening was named after the then Governor of Bombay, Lord Reay, and served as a retail and wholesale market in addition to being the Municipal office. There was also an older market district called

Tulshi Baug Tulshibaug (Marathi: तुळशीबाग) is an area in Pune City in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is located in the old city area. Its main features are a historic temple precinct and a large market. Location The Tulshibaug area ...

close to the vegetable market that sold a variety of household items. The wholesale market was moved to the outskirts of the city in the late 1970s to the newly built Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Market Yard at Gultekdi. The Municipal offices moved to a purpose built new building in the Shivajinagar area of the city many decades ago.

The building

The market building is designed in the

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. The builders used masonry carved from the local grey stone. The structure is dominated by an 80 feet central, squat, octagonal tower. The tower is surrounded by a verandah with a tiled roof. This covers the ground and first floor. Four market wings housing the majority of the stalls radiate out from the ground floor verandah. The market is entered via gothic arches located at the ends of each of the wings.

The market today

Today the market about 526 stalls of fruits and vegetables. It is always crowded because fruits and vegetable are available at lower cost than other places in the city, but is most crowded on weekends and holidays. The market has its own Ganesh Mandal for Ganesh Festival and is one of the oldest in

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. The proposed skywalk will run on four sides of the market.

Akhil Mandai Ganapati

This is the name of Mandai's Ganesh Mandal. This is one of the oldest Ganesh Mandal in

.The mandai Ganpati is a popular place to visit during the annual

Ganesh Festival Ganesh Chaturthi (ISO: ), also known as Vinayak Chaturthi (), or Ganeshotsav () is a Hindu festival commemorating the birth of the Hindu god Ganesha. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's clay idols privately in homes and p ...

for local Hindu residents as well as out of town visitors. It has an idol of Lord

Ganesh Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva_(Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is ...

sitting on a swing with Goddess Sharada.

References

{{authority control Culture of Pune Retail markets in Pune Jyotirao Phule