By Ramesh Kebbehundi

Pics. by M.N. Lakshminarayana Yadav

Clothes, clothes and more clothes, cheap clothes though. Accessories, bangles, bracelets, blouses, buttons, hooks, straps, stripes, stoles and trinkets — welcome to L. Kadaiah Gully. This is where girls go to shop and get beautiful. Shopping and commercial activity in this area has not changed despite the fact that the city has expanded in leaps and bounds with new and novel shopping areas. L. Kadaiah bylane has its own dedicated customers and they make a beeline day in and day out. What you get here cannot be purchased anywhere else and for that cheap a price. Walk on this Gully with Weekend Star Supplement. 

Kadaiah Gully…Where Gals Get Beautiful

Mysuru is one of the major tourist attractions because of its history, heritage and culture. A perfect blend of the old and the new, Mysuru offers tonnes of options for locals and tourists to indulge in sightseeing, explore museums, eat and drink and, of course, shop in some of the most vibrant markets in the country.

 Street shops are a girl’s best friend as they offer the best variety of clothes as well as accessories at the lowest price. Sometimes the little things in life have the most to offer — so do these little shops constructed at the corner of the road always attracts visitors on Sayyaji Rao Road, popularly called Royal Street.

The road is a shoppers’ paradise for street shopping with clothes ranging from costly to medium, to cheap — each of them having quality to match the price tag. People can also look for antiques at affordable prices and also linen for houses. This street is crowded and therefore, people must be prepared to walk a lot. 

There are many lanes and by-lanes famous for street shopping from K.R. Circle to Government Ayurveda College Circle along the Sayyaji Rao Road stretch. But Kadaiah Gully, also called Indra Bhavan Cross, is one of the oldest by-lane famous for ladies dress material shopping. This Gully attracts visitors, especially women and foreigners, in large numbers despite dress shops mushrooming at every nook and corner of the city.

There are many by-lanes on this stretch but what attracts shoppers is Kadaiah Gully. Though congested, it is a treasure trove of dress materials and ladies fancy item shops. Buyers can get rare and exquisite items here at a much cheaper price. But one needs to know how to bargain.

Kadaiah Gully is just 170-ft stretch from Sayyaji Rao Road to Hanumantha Rao Street. There are over 15 shops in the by-lane and there is a walking space of just four feet.  This old Madrasi-style building also houses L. Kadaiah Silk Saree Shop, one of the oldest silk saree shops in city. The erstwhile Maharajas were known to be buying Mysuru peta, silk clothes, shirts, dhoti, valli and other dress materials from here.

Girlie shopping

Hundreds of people from Mysuru and surrounding areas used to visit the Gully to purchase silk cloth materials for weddings, pujas and for festivals those days. This lane had a wide range of collection of dress materials even in the olden days at a time when there were no women’s dress material shops.

And even today, this by-lane has maintained its charm as a one-stop destination to purchase garments, imitation jewellery and fancy items.

Wholesale dress materials sellers from Rajasthan and Maharashtra, who have settled in city since time immemorial, have set up shops in this Gully. They are experts in tailoring, stitching materials, lining, falls and embroidery — all under one roof.  

A host of tailoring products like threads, zippers, ribbon and tapes, laces, buttons, interlining clothes, scissors sewing machine needles, office pin, pearl head pin, crochet hook, safety pin, seam ripper, measuring tape, tweezers, knitting needle, sewing kits, rotary cutter and other items are on sale here.

What more, ladies fancy items which are most popular in Western Europe, North America, and Eastern European countries are also available here apart from lining shops, embroidery, fancy shops, boutiques, bangles shop, button centre, matching centre,  thread house, school bag shop, sewing tools and tailoring tools shops.

Located a few metres from City Bus Stand, this by-lane offers a plethora of options suited to every budget. A walk through this by-lane offers a delightful shopping experience. Shops here generally open by 10 am and cater to customer needs till 9 pm.

Tailor-made for fairer sex

I heard about Kadaiah Gully from my friends and I have come here to buy dress materials for my two daughters. There are yarns, laces, zippers, nose pins, anklets all types of cosmetic items, fancy items, gift items and gold covering items with the best quality available. Plus, the new stock comes in every quarter so always there is newness,” says Seethalakshmi of Kuvempunagar who is a frequent visitor.

Varieties of dress materials including lingerie, fashion felts, fusible inter-lining, tricot interlining lehenga, handloom sarees, silk sarees, cotton sarees, ethnic saree, fancy sarees, Rajasthan sarees and kurtis.

Business all through the year

Customers from Mysuru and other adjoining districts visit this Gully in large numbers as it has a reputation of its own. There is no dip in business at any time of the year despite having many shops all over the city,” says Shashikumar, one of the relatives of L. Kadaiah who runs a fancy store in the Gully. His family is in this business since three generations.

One interesting part about this by-lane is that you can buy dress materials and immediately give it to one of the tailors as there are many tailoring shops on the same building where tailors can stitch the dresses in 30 minutes to one hour and for affordable prices.    

“If you are looking for awesome stuff and amazing price try this by-lane. This place is not much heard of and it is a haven for dress materials in bulk,” says Vinutha, a college student from Agrahara area. She and her sister have been buying clothes here since many years.

Different styles of Ghagra Cholis, Lehenga Cholis as daily wear, and traditional Ghagra with mirrors usually worn during Navaratri or a fully embroidered lehenga worn during marriage ceremonies and a simple party wear are available here along with dress materials for women that suits all climate conditions, festivals, birthdays and daily wears.