Here, we can see how much of the commercial activity around 8th cross fits into the lifestyle of a temple-going public and actively engages with them- whether it is through shops selling sari’s with shiv linga motifs, otherwise “secular” shops selling festival specific items during those times of the year or jewelry stores advertising Akshaya Tritiya or through shops focusing entirely on puja items. One of our respondents, Laxman Kumar, who owns a Puja Shop, called the Sri Kanyaka Parameshwari Temple a “commercial temple.” “Idhar yeh dono temple (indicating Vasavi and the other one) are commercial temples- main nahi jaata- bahut paisa hain unke paas- dukaan hain is liye- yeh puraa dono side dukaan hain- woh temple building aur iss side pe dusre mandir ki dukaan. Donation pe bhi chalta hain...Vasavi temple toh pura commercial temple hain- hostel hain/ doctor hain/bank hain/dukaan hain aur sab ke beech main temple.”
Interestingly, Laxman did not see this as a problem; he did not associate this commercialization with change or loss, since for him it had allowed him the opportunity to target this temple/shopping public through the Puja Shop he had opened post-liberalization, 16 years ago. “Jab se Bangalore mein IT Sector aaya, tab se improve ho gaya- pura improve ho gaya hain- business improve ho gaya hain idhar- Kya hain- malleswaram pura temples...Idhar Temple hain , baaju main market hain- puja ke liye bahut saare log aatein hain- toh hamein puja dukaan ka idea mil gaya- 56 years se main Malleswaram main hoon toh is liye yeh area main hi karna tha...hamaara family ki dukaane idhar sab jaage hain…”
However, this phenomenon in which the temple acts as a nucleus organizing the activity around it was viewed a little more ambiguously by others. The president of the MRWA mentioned how the proliferation of flower vendors had led to the footpaths having “too many hurdles” and being “blatantly unscientific…” One of their main priorities is to rid the Malleswaram street of these hurdles and “illegal constructions.” Narsimhan Murthy, the vessel shop owner also said that a lot of these changes had happened “once it's become cosmopolitan- the area has changed- (because) people are coming from other places and the new generation- they have their own way of thinking. Back then, even Sampige was not commercial, now it is. What happened was that the shops moved there because it was a wider road.Now it is that everything is a three star five star- even the hotels are five star/three star (meaning expensive)- in my time it cost Five paisa for idli…” He also mentioned how it now took him at least five minutes to cross any road.
Laxman Kumar’s brother who owns a gift items shop (mostly Buddha and Ganesha Statues), also had a more nuanced take on the issue than his brother. He says that 8th cross is not “supposed” to be a market, but that the vegetable and flower vendors have encroached the space. His concluding system about the entire situation is one that encapsulates the ambiguous contestation between nostalgia-vision Malleswaram and revenue generating commercial “MALLeswaram” (his words): “100% it has become more commercialized but we maintain our heritage also...we have satsangs everyday; this is the only road full of community halls and temples and my family alone does service, we have garbage collection, blood camps and set up boards with phone numbers of all resources such as hospitals, blood banks, public services ...and temples.”