Kedarnath Agarwal (1937–2023) was the founder and chairman of the popular Indian food brands Bikanerwala and Bikano, who died in November 2023.
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Wiki/Biography
Kedarnath Agarwal was born in 1937 (age 86 years at death) in the princely state of Bikaner (later Bikaner city of Rajasthan state of India) of British India. He started helping his father in the family sweet-making business during his teenage years and later started his own sweet-making business.
A picture of Kedarnath’s father’s shop
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 6″
Eye colour: black
Family
He belonged to a family of sweet makers.
parents and siblings
His father, Lal Chand Aggarwal, started his own sweet making shop named Bikaner Mithai Bhandar in Bikaner in 1905. Kedarnath Aggarwal had five elder brothers, four of them named Lakshmi Narayan, Jugal Kishore, Har Narayan and Satya Narayan and one sister. Mannu Bai.
A picture of Lal Chand Agarwal, father of Kedarnath Agarwal
A family photo of Kedarnath Aggarwal
wife and children
Kedarnath Aggarwal is survived by his wife Naurati Devi and six children. The name of his eldest son is Radhe Mohan, the name of the middle one is Navratan and the name of the youngest is Ramesh. They have three daughters, Krishnakant, Anju and Suman.
Kedarnath Aggarwal with his wife Naurti Devi
Religion
He followed Hindu religion.
Caste
He belonged to the Vaishya community (also known as Bania). He once served as a trustee of the All India Agrawal Conference.
livelihood
After working at his father’s shop in Bikaner for a few years, Kedarnath and his elder brother Satya Narayan traveled to various cities such as Mumbai and Kolkata before coming to Delhi in 1955. During their initial days, they used to sell Bikaneri Rasgulla and Bhujia. Namkeen) wrapped in paper packets as a street vendor carrying sweets in a bucket. After a few months, he opened a shop in Parantha Wali Gali in the Chandni Chowk area of Delhi, India and named it Bikaneri Bhujia Bhandar; However, his elder brother Jugal Kishore once came to his shop and became angry after seeing the shop.
A picture of Jugal Kishore Agarwal, elder brother of Kedarnath Agarwal
A picture of Kedarnath Agarwal’s oldest Bikanerwala shop
He told them that he was sent to Delhi to spread the fame of Bikaner and asked them to change the name after which he named his shop as Bikanerwala. Many of his sweets including Moong Dal Halwa, Bikaneri Bhujia and Kaju Katli became very popular among the masses. He opened many shops in Delhi and other cities of India and other countries.
Kedarnath Aggarwal during his 60s
In 1988, he created a new brand named Bikano through which he manufactured namkeen and other sweets in air-tight packets; He later partnered with PepsiCo’s new brand Lehar in 1995. The brands were later managed by Shyam Sundar Agarwal and his son, Manish Agarwal. By 2023, Bikanerwala has over 200 outlets and an annual turnover of over Rs 2000 crore.
Shyam Sundar Agarwal with his son Manish Agarwal
Death
Kedarnath Agarwal died on 13 November 2023 in Delhi, India at the age of 86.
Facts/General Knowledge
- People lovingly called him Kakaji.
- When he came to Delhi in 1955, he stayed at the Santlal Khemka Dharamshala, where only a maximum stay of 3 days was allowed; However, he had a letter from someone he knew in Bikaner and he was allowed to stay in Dharamshala for about a month.
- Kedarnath Agarwal once talked about the popularity of Bikanerwala’s rasgullas and said that he had to limit the number of rasgullas for each customer during the festival season and sell only 10 rasgullas to each customer.
- He loved traveling and bought a Hindustan Ambassador car in the 1970s.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn