This Borivali Paan-Wala Has Decorated His Shop With 450 Bells, Cos Why Not

A paan wala in Borivali has a collection of at least 450 bells in his tiny shop, apart from the endless variations of paan one can order in from there.

Ghanta Pan Wala Mandir in Borivali is a tiny but an iconic place. On first look, it may look as ordinary as one imagines it to be. However, come close and one can see the huge blue signage of Guinness Record Holder. The shop, just like a temple, has a huge bell which is rung every time a pan is sold and money is exchanged. This isn’t the only bell that Vinod Tiwari holds there. He currently has at least 450 bells there from over 180 countries.

The shop was set up in 1988 in Borivali when Vinod took over from his father. Ever since then to now, the shop not only has gained popularity in Borivali {there’s always a customer getting paan} but also in the world and how. Ghanta Pan Wala Mandir has made it to Guinness Book of World record and Limca Book of World Record for having as many bells as he does.

It all started when Ashok Agarwal, a regular customer gifted them a bell from France. Interestingly, more than half of the bells have been gifted to him by his regular customers. From Switzerland, Japan, China, Malaysia and more, these bells come in all shapes and sizes and are displayed nicely in glass cabinets for the customers to see.

The shop also offers as many variations of paan as one can imagine. They offer a special ice gola paan which is huge and includes almost 11 types of ingredients, including frozen rose ice for INR 45. Apart from this, they have chocolate paan {INR 30}, Chappan bhog paan which possibly has the maximum number of ingredients – 50 is the count. Some are even topped with dry fruits, pineapple, rasmalai, chandan to anything the customer demands. We have been told they can customise as many flavours as one wants.

Ghanta Wala Pan Mandir is a quirky shop that has been carrying on its tradition for almost a decade now. Tucked away in Borivali, it has loyal customers across the city from South Mumbai, Bandra to Sion, and for them, paan and bells go hand in hand.

The ingredients for the paan are sourced from a wholesale market in Marine Lines.