The neighbourhood around Anawratha Street and the streets running south toward Strand Road is Yangon's Indian quarter — a legacy of the large Indian community that settled here under British rule. At the start of the 20th century Indians were the majority population of Rangoon; mass deportations after independence and the nationalisation of 1962 reduced that community greatly, but the neighbourhood retains a strongly Indian character.
Hindu temples, mosques, and vegetarian restaurants line the streets. The Sri Kali Temple on Anawratha Street is one of the more striking — a South Indian-style gopuram (gateway tower) rising incongruously among the colonial buildings. The area around Maha Bandula Road is good for cheap Indian food throughout the day.