Bikaner House

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Lala Kedarnath Aggarwal, who once sold bhujia and rasgullas in buckets on the streets of old Delhi before establishing sweets and snacks brand Bikanervala, passed away on Monday. He was 86. The demise of Aggarwal, fondly known as Kakaji, "marked the end of an era that has enriched palates and touched countless lives," Bikanervala said in a statement. The company operates more than 60 outlets in India and has presence in countries such as the USA, New Zealand, Singapore, Nepal and the UAE. "Kakaji's departure is not just a loss to Bikanervala; it's a void in the culinary landscape. His vision and leadership will forever guide our culinary journey," said the group's Managing Director Shyam Sunder Aggarwal. Kedarnath Aggarwal started his entrepreneurial journey in Delhi. Hailing from Bikaner, his family owned a sweet shop in the bylanes of the city since 1905. The shop was named as Bikaner Namkeen Bhandar and used to sell a few varieties of sweets and snacks. Aggarwal, who had large

Bikaner House: The grand structure with high ceilings and arched doorways, that now act as a venue for open-air musical performances wasn't always like this

Singh was also an outright autocrat and a believer in the indispensability of the princely order in the Indian set-up

From modest princely palace to dusty bureaucratic outpost, Bikaner House in Delhi has had several, less-than-impressive avatars