Bangalore Tourism
Location : In the State of
Karnataka
Famous As : Capital City of Karnataka
Attractions : Bull Temple, Tipu Sultan Fort
Altitude : 920m.
Temperature (°C) : Summer: Max 35, Min 20 Winter: Max 28,
Min 14
Rainfall : 86cms (June and October)
Visiting Season : Throughout the year. (Sep. to March is the
best time)
¤ Bangalore - A Garden City of
India
Bangalore is the capital city of the southern Indian State of
Karnataka. It is also known as the Garden City because of its many
splendid gardens and parks. The city was founded in the 16th century
and has since continued to be an important administrative center of
South India. Because of the high centering of IT industry, the city is
also called the Silicon Valley of India. Another tourism attraction of
the city lies in its Pubs. It is now also called the Pub City with
over 200 Pubs all over the town. They are the most hangs out zones
quite familiar among the tourist as well as the locals.
¤ Silicon Valley of India
India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, called the Bangalore
City as "India's city of the future". Today Bangalore
tourism, ranks as one of the fastest growing industries in India. Its
gratifying pleasant weather, courteous people, and its highly educated
population have made the city a Silicon Valley of India. Almost all
Computers related multinationals companies are setting up their India
head office at Bangalore.
¤ History
The Chola King - Veera Ballalla ruled the Deccan plateau, the South
of India during the 12th century in the year 1120 AD. Once on a
hunting trip the king lost his way in the dense forest of the region.
After a long search to his way out he met an old lady in the forest
who greeted him with all amenity and offered him shelter for the night
and served him baked beans for dinner. The king was thoroughly
impressed by the loving gesture of the lady and decided to show his
gratitude by constructing a town and named it as Benda Kalooru, which
means Baked Beans. Later in 1537, a local chieftain, Kempe Gowda
helped design this town and give it its modern shape.
¤ Main Attractions
The Bull Temple
has been built by Kempegowda in the 16th century AD. The gray granite
sacred bull, Nandi, is the main attraction after which the temple has
been named. The sacred bull has been carved out of a single granite
block and measures 4.57 m in height and 6.10 m in length.
 Tipu
Sultan's Palace
built of teakwood, was constructed between 1781-1791. The palace is
famous for its inlay designs, the floral patterns on the walls and
ceilings, After Tipu's death the British used the palace as a
Secretariat until 1867.
Lalbagh
a botanical garden, it was originally called Lalbagh, Lal means Red
and Bagh means Garden. The garden is embellished with thousands of
beautiful red roses. It also has a green house with a collection of
various kinds of flora. Another attraction of the garden is the
Glasshouse constructed on the pattern of the Crystal Palace in London.
Sri Gavi Gangadhareswara Temple
The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is caved out of a
monolithic granite rock. It is believed that on January 14th every
year, a ray of sunlight passes through an arch between the horns of
stone bull that stands outside the temple and lights up the idol
inside. It shows the supremacy of the techniques used in ancient
architecture combined with their knowledge of astronomy.
Aquarium
The Bangalore aquarium is an ideal place to see a large variety of
aqua-fauna at close quarters. It the second largest aquarium in the
country.
Timings: Open 10.00 to 19.30 hours. Closes on Thursdays.
Government Museum and Venkatappa Art Gallery
Established in 1886 the Government Museum showcases varied collection
of archaeological artifacts. The art gallery has a collection of the
works of the noted artist - K. Venkatappa of the Mysore Court.
Timings: Open 10.00 to 17.00. Closes on Wednesdays.
¤ Nearby Excursions
Bangalore makes an excellent excursion to the nearby places.
Nrityagram village
30km is a great center of dance learning. A classical dance academy
has its institution set up in the village.
Bannerghatta National Park
21 km from the city is a wildlife reserve area housing many wilds in
their most natural surroundings.
Nandi Hill Resort
60km famous for its temples and fort is worth a visit site.
Devarayandurga - 70km and Ramanagaram -49km are famous for taking up
adventure activity. Rugged rock formation around Bangalore offers
adventures like trekking and rock climbing to the adventure
enthusiast.
Mysore
139 km a historical city offers its visitors a royal treat of forts,
palaces. There are also number of ancient Hindu temples and monuments,
which hold a great source of attraction.
Whitefield Ashram
20 km east of Bangalore is the summerhouse of the Shri Sathya Sai
Baba and ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness)
Temple Complex are important spiritual centers, worth paying a visit.
¤ Fairs and Festivals in Bangalore
All major Indian festivals are celebrated with traditional pomp and
gaiety. Bangalore also celebrates some regional festivals.
Yugadi (March or early April)
Yugadi is celebrated as a New Year in the state of Karnataka. This
day is considered very auspicious to start up with any thing new. The
festival begins with ritual bath and prayers and continues till late
night. Ugadi also indicates the advent of spring with flowers blooming
all around, green fields embellished with lush green grasses,all
heralding a new beginning. The women prepare special dishes to mark
the occasion.
Dussehra (Sept/Oct)
Dussehra is the most celebrated festival of Karnataka. The festival
is celebrated for ten days, a huge procession is taken where decorated
elephants, horses and the colorful folk are the part of the
procession. During the golden rule of kings, on the 10th day, the
Maharaja of Mysore, use to comes out in a procession sitting on an
elephant embellished with a most royal tint. With the ending of the
royal rule, a picture of Bhuvaneshwari, the patron goddess of
Karnataka, is taken out in procession.
Karaga Festival (March and April)
Terra-cotta Pot known as Karaga is taken out in a procession an pot
personifying Shakti is taken out in with a massive procession for more
than 20kms, finally the pot is immersed in the Sampangi tank. It is a
most lively and colorful procession as devotees balance pots on their
heads to test the power of their traits.
Kadalekaye Parishe (November)
It is also called Peanut festival, the farmers celebrate the first
groundnut crop of the year. The peanut is offered to the Bull Nandani,
the sacred bull of Lord Shiva.The farmers worship at the Bull temple
and seek blessings.
Makara Sankranthi or Pongal (January)
The festival is celebrated to mark the beginning of the harvest
season. It is also celebrated to mark the change of seasons from
winter to spring.
Ganesh Chaturthi
It is celebrated in September all over the world, the day before
Swarna Gowri.
Varamahalakshmi (August)
On this auspicious day married women offers Goddess Lakshmi, garlands
of cash, ornaments and other valuables. They pray for prosperity,
peace and happiness for their families and husbands. One gets rid of
all his problems after performing this puja. Ladies also offer
vermilion or kum-kum to married ladies.
¤ Bangalore A Shoppers Delight
This metropolitan city is a paradise for shoppers, as it offers both
traditional and modern items to the traveler. The city boost of its
traditional handicraft items, such as silk saris, intricately carved
sandalwood items and tribal jewelry, which are quite favorites among
the tourist. Bangalore is also famous for its sandalwood cosmetic
products and toiletry.
These conventional items can be shopped from any outlet and emporia
on MG road. There are also number of shopping arcades across the city
for the traveler to window-shop and buy things.
For silk saris and cloth the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation
runs show rooms at M.G. Road and K.G. Road.
Priyadarshini Handloom House at various places is an ideal place to
shop for handloom products.
Handicrafts may be purchased from Cauvery Arts and Crafts Emporium,
M.G. Road.
Mahatma Gandhi Road Jayachamarajendra Road, Jayanagar Shopping
Complex Russel Market and Commercial Street are the other main
shopping hubs.
¤ Accessibility To The City
Air: Bangalore Airport is 13
km east of the City Station. There are number of daily flights to
important cities like Indian Airlines connect Bangalore with all the
major destinations in India, like-- Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune,
Ahmedabad, Goa, Hyderabad, and Trivandrum. Damania Airlines,
East-West, Continental Aviation also operates flights from Bangalore
to Bombay.
Bangalore also has direct international flights to Muscat, Sharjah
and Singapore. It is also a stopover for many international flights.
Rail: There are two railway stations in Bangalore. The main
station is well connected to all major Indian cities. There are number
of daily express trains from Bangalore to other cities of India.
Bangalore is directly connected by rail with Ahmedabad, Mumbai,
Cochin, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Chennai, Nagpur,
Trivandrum, Goa and other cities in India.
Road: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC)
buses and buses belonging to Tamilnadu and Goa Roadways also operate
from here.
Regular bus services connect Bangalore to Belgaum, Bidar, Bijapur,
Goa, Hospet, Hyderabad, Madras, Madikere, Madurai, Mangalore, Mysore,
Tirupati, Nandi Hills, Chanrajaragar, Jog Falls, Ootacamund (Ooty)
Raichur, Ernakulam, Gulbarga, Pondicherry, Calicut, Dharwar etc.
Coaches of B.T.S., I.T.D.C., K.S.T.D.C. are available. Tourist taxis
and city bus services are also available.
Major Circuits
Major Tour Packages To Maharashtra
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