Ananda Bhavan feted as oldest Indian vegetarian eatery here

Many of Madam Parameshvari Kulanthaivelu’s childhood hours were spent watching the chefs in her family’s restaurant as they worked.

- Ng Wei Kai

From her perch on the second floor of the shophouse in Selegie, she watched them cut and prepare vegetarian fare, including the multicoloured Deepavali sweets that filled the kitchen with hues of orange, yellow, beige and white.

Now at age 74, after retiring from a career in accounting, Madam Parameshvari is back at the family business helping her nephew run the now 100-year-old Ananda Bhavan Restaurant.

It is this spirit of pulling together to sustain the family business that has helped it reach its centenary, she told The Straits Times on July 20 before a dinner marking Ananda Bhavan’s entry into the Singapore Book of Records as the oldest Indian vegetarian restaurant in the country.