‘Little India’ inaugurated in Bahrain’s historic Manama Souk

MANAMA, BAHRAIN: In a historic day for the Indian community living in Bahrain, a project named ‘Little India’ was inaugurated in the capital city of Manama on December 19. The project incorporates three streets in the heart of Manama Souk, the city’s old bazaar, into an ongoing project to preserve old Bahraini houses constructed with Indian timber as well as a 200-year old Krishna Temple.
The ‘Little India’ project was initiated by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiques (BACA). The designation covers an area of 5,000 square meters in the heart of the Manama souk, with an emphasis on conducting regular markets, fashion shows and cultural performances.

BACA president Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa arrives at 'Little India' to a traditional welcome.
Three main streets are included in the new ‘Little India’ - Bab Al Bahrain Avenue (gateway), Al Tijjar Avenue (implying traders) and the Al Hadrami Avenue (popularly known as Temple Road). Apart from this, BACA intends to preserve fourteen historic Bahraini houses built with Indian wood.
The inauguration saw the participation of Bahrain’s foreign minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, BACA president Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa and India’s ambassador to Bahrain, Alok Kumar Sinha.
The 200-year-old Hindu temple is set to undergo a facelift as part of the ‘Little India’ project. The temple is also known as ‘Shrinathji temple’ and is owned by the Hindu Bhatia community under the Thattai Hindu Mercantile Community (THMC) association.
Close to the temple is also a huge open ground that can be used for functions and other religious events, supported by a huge enclosed auditorium, all of which will get a facelift. This temple and the adjoining ground accommodate about 1000 devotees during big festivals such as Diwali and Holi and the THMC has come up with plans for the revamp and upgrade of the area surrounding the temple.

Al Hadrami Avenue (popularly known as Temple Road) in 'Little India', the location of the 200-year-old Krishna Temple.
“All the people and the Indian community are elated and proud to see ‘Little India’ transform the whole souk. This hopefully will become a good future tourist destination,” said Frances Stafford, project manager and senior BACA exhibition specialist.
BACA organized this event in co-ordination with Sanskriti, a cultural association. Stalls selling Indian food and cultural performances marked the inauguration of ‘Little India’. A musical night was also conducted in an adjacent ground where a cut-out poster of Shah Rukh Khan was placed as well as a dummy placard of Mumbai’s auto rickshaw.
For one night, it seemed one was walking through a street or ‘gulley’ of India during the festive season, with all the shops and narrow streets decorated with fresh flowers and hanging lanterns to mark the occasion.
The opening of the ‘Little India’ project was timed with the week-long Bahrain National Day (16/17 Dec) celebrations. It is also part of Bahrain’s declaration of 2015 as ‘the year of heritage’. BACA hopes to sustain and grow further on this prestigious project to promote cultural tourism and position 2016 under the slogan, ‘Bahrain: Your destination’.