In Bengaluru, curated walks — heritage trails, neighbourhood explorations, market and food walks, park rambles and even midnight bike tours — have reshaped how people experience this city. On World Heritage Day, we take a break from traffic snarls and brewery hopping, and opt to take a walk — an activity that has emerged as a way to reclaim intimacy, memory and meaning. “Bengaluru’s real heritage isn’t just in its palaces or iconic buildings — it lives in the everyday. It’s the chakota seller outside Cottonpet, the rustle of old rain trees in Cubbon Park, the evening aarti at a 200-year-old temple tucked between glass towers,” says Priya Chetty Rajagopal, civic evangelist and Heritage Beku founder. “Celebrating everyday heritage isn’t nostalgia — it’s resistance, it’s belonging. It tells our children where they come from. It gives our migrants a way to root themselves. Bengaluru’s future is brighter when it remembers its past,” she adds.
Bengaluru isn’t ‘new’ — it’s ancient and reborn many times over. And we must allow its many rebirths to make it stay current and generation relevant
Priya Chetty Rajagopal
“During these heritage walks, I’ve discovered a side of Bengaluru that goes far beyond the Outer Ring Road and its traffic,” says Dev, a software engineer. “Walking slows people down,” says Raksha Nagraj, founder of Bengaluru Prayana, a storytelling-led platform focused on the city’s history and culture. “It allows them to notice inscriptions, old shop boards, the alignment of streets, and the way community spaces are used. Reading gives you knowledge, but walking gives you context.” For Vinay, founder of Gully Tours and a leadership coach, the idea of walking tours began with a question about tourism and storytelling. While working in Singapore in the late 2000s, he was struck by how a city-country half the size of Bengaluru attracted more tourists than all of India. “Singapore has a 50-year-old history. We have 5,000 years of heritage. That contrast stayed with me,” he says.Telling history without turning it into a lectureFor Raksha, walking was never just about movement. “When I travelled, I explored cities by walking slowly — observing buildings, markets and people. That’s when I realised how many stories in Bengaluru are hidden in plain sight,” she says. What began as personal exploration soon turned into storytelling. “I started documenting Bengaluru’s history and culture through blogs and videos. From there, heritage trails felt like the most natural way to tell these stories — to let people experience history where it actually happened.”
People connect deeply with neighbourhood walks and market walks because they see everyday life unfolding
Raksha Nagraj
A chance walking tour abroad proved transformative for Vinay as well. “I realised how powerful walking can be. You pause, you look around, you absorb more. Research even shows that the human brain absorbs information better when you’re walking at that pace,” he says. But he is clear about one thing, as he states, “Nobody wants a history lecture. What matters is keeping it fun, interesting and engaging. Once people understand why something is cool or important, advocacy comes naturally.”“Walking tours attract a surprisingly wide audience. We often have three generations of a family walking together — longtime residents, people who’ve just moved to Bengaluru, and those who are simply curious about the city,” Vinay explains. Raksha agrees. “I’ve had participants from their 20s to their 80s. Some are locals, some are first-time migrants, some are tourists. Many become repeat walkers. Once they come, they fall in love and keep coming back.”
You don’t really understand a city unless you walk it. Walking creates connection. It makes people care
Vinay
A sense of belonging in the cityBoth curators believe walking builds emotional connection. “When people walk with us on MG Road or in Cantonment, they say, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never noticed this before,’” says Raksha, adding, “That’s when they realise how history and daily life overlap.”Vinay adds, “You don’t really understand a city unless you walk it. Walking creates connection. It makes people care.” For Raksha, that sense of care is the ultimate goal. “We want people to start loving the city and feeling that they belong here. Bengaluru has so much history, culture and everyday beauty — and it doesn’t all lie on the outskirts. It’s right here, on our streets.”Quaint heritage walk trailsl KR Marketl Malleswaraml Gavipuraml Cantonmentl MG Roadl Cubbon Parkl Avenue Road
