We are a bookstore in the heart of Bengaluru

We are a community of readers, and we like diverse stories. We have experienced the world differently thanks to the stories we've read and shared—they enrich us like nothing else, and we would like to share that with you.

We choose the books we shelve with care. We believe that a good bookshelf should hold a world of voices and stories, from across time, place and experience. We love nature writing, science, reflections across genre on gender and caste and history. We feature fiction, non-fiction, the social sciences, and history, and we love translations, science fiction, and graphic novels.

We believe that the relatively unheard needs more place on shelves and that no single voice should dominate.

We enjoy the whimsy of a bookshelf, and hope that you discover something fresh and interesting each time you visit—a new way of looking at the world. If you’d like, we would be delighted to spend time with you, and help you foray in directions you may not even know you were looking for.  

On our shelves, you’ll find books from caste narratives in rural India to dystopian futures where people can move the earth; moving personal memoirs on mental health to poetry bound in sari cloth; and translations from over twenty languages, from India and internationally.

Independent in thought & spirit

We are an independently-owned women-run bookstore and cafe, and a diverse community of people. We work together in selecting and sourcing the books we stock, and managing the very integral day-to-day activities of running our store.

We bring the same care and thoughtfulness to all aspects of our work. Our children’s library is now a small space for everybody, and through its work we run weekly classes in a small school in Pottery Town. We hope to grow it into a community space that is bigger and available to more children in the city.

We host events every week that are free and open to the public, both online and offline. We ensure that we bring engaging and meaningful discussions to you. We like to bring a range of events to our community, and we like to support independent and creative work by publishers, artists and individuals. We host a series of homegrown conversations on texts that are relevant to our present time in our Books for Now series. We screen indie films and music, and host workshops on a number of topics, including writing and art. We have supported local literary weekends, authors and artists, and we take pop-up bookstores to cultural events in the city.

What you support when you support Champaca

In supporting us, you support the time of those of us who try to bring you a creative, thoughtful experience around stories, conversations and books. You support the very hard realities of rents, salaries, bills and effort that help us ensure you have a wonderful time when you come by for a cup of coffee and solitude.

We care for all those who work with us and for us, and our employees are from the city of Bangalore. We ensure their well-being, health and safety, and they are a vital part of our community. This community also includes the people who support us, who often bring their talent, resources, love and time to make us a more meaningful space.

In supporting us, you help us bring thought and care to everything we do: to the events we host, to the books we stock on our shelves.

In a culture of quick-access and discounted prices, what we ensure we give you is the joy of discovery.

You will help us build a community that supports diversity, quality and ideas. In buying from us, you support each of us who works here. In supporting us, you believe, like us, that books are much more than objects to purchase at competitive prices, but the gifts we give ourselves to grow as individuals and learn.

Find us on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Store Policies

1. We request you to order from our cafe, outside food is not allowed. You can          place your order at the counter.

2. On weekends, we are a laptop/tab-free zone. 

3. We do not accept unsolicited requests to stock self-published books.

4. Please be careful while browsing books. If a book is damaged we consider it          sold. Once sold, we do not accept returns or exchange of books. 

5. Please treat our in-store staff, books and cats with respect and kindness. We        deeply value this and reserve the right to admission.