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Bangalore

Quintessentially cosmopolitan, with its ruched velvet night-spots, luxury hotels and fascinating vistas, Bangalore offers all that a tourist can ask for.

Bangalore India

Vidhan Sudha at Bangalore

Bangalore History

How the city came to be known as "Bangalore" is still in the realm of conjecture. One authority maintains that the name "Bangalore" is an anglicised version of "Bengalooru” derived from the phrase "bende kaalu ooru," which in local language Kannada means "the town of boiled beans." Boiled beans were the only stuff which an old woman could offer to the Hoysala King Ballala when he lost his way in the jungle while on a hunting mission. Hence the name.

In 1537, a local chieftain serving under the formidable south Indian Hindu dynasty Vijayanagara, Kempe Gowda helped design this town and give it its modern shape. After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, Mohammed Adil Shah, the Sultan of Bijapur captured the city in 1638.

Bangalore was sold to king Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar of Mysore for 3 lac pagodas in 1687. In 1759, Krishna raja Wodeyar II gave Bangalore to Hyder Ali as a jagir. After the death of Tipu Sultan, son of Hyder Ali, in the fourth Anglo – Mysore war in 1799, the British returned the Mysore kingdom, of which Bangalore was a part, back to Krishna raja Wodeyar III. In 1831, the British took into their hands the administration of the Mysore Kingdom on the pretext of misrule by Krishna raja Wodeyar III.

Under the British rule, Bangalore emerged as a modern city with facilities like the railways, telegraphs, postal and police departments. After independence, Bangalore became the obvious capital of Karnataka.

Today, with a population of more than six million, Bangalore is India's fifth largest city and the fastest growing city in Asia. The city has earned many epithets including "India's Silicon Valley," "Fashion Capital of India," "The Pub City of India," and so on.

Tourist attractions and places Bangalore India

Thanks to rich historical past, much of Bangalore still displays vestiges of the colonial era. However, for the modern tourist, the obvious first port of call is the vibrancy of the city life. An adrenaline-charged city, the Garden CIrty brims with ruched velvet night-spots, luxury hotels and bars, restaurants, clubs, and positive energy. There's no place quite like it.

Bangalore has some beautiful parks, some of which date back over two centuries. The botanical gardens at Lal Bagh are the most appealing.

Bull Temple:

One of Bangalore's oldest temples, the Bull Temple was built by Kempe Gowda, who founded the city. The temple houses the 16th-century black-granite statue of Nandi, the sacred bull, the vehicle of Lord Shiva, the God of Destruction in the Hindu Trinity of Gods.

Cubbon Park:

Spread in an area of 250 acres the Cubbon Park was laid out by Mysore engineer, Richard Sankey in 1864. The popular pastime for the children, the park is home to amusement park, a doll museum and a toy train for children. Venkatappa Art Gallery, one of India’s oldest art museums, contains many interesting antiques and archaeological objects including Buddhist figures dating back to the 4th- and 5th-century Gandhara school, and Hoysala carvings from Belur, Halebid, and Hampi.

Vidhana Soudha:

Built in 1956, Vidhana Soudha, Karnataka's State Legislature and Secretariat building, is a famous landmark of India built from the granite in at what is termed "neo-Dravidian" architecture. You can marvel at the sight of the illuminated building on Sundays between 7 and 8 PM.

Attara Kacheri:

Directly opposite to the Vidhana Soudha is the Karnataka's two-story High Court building, or Attara Kacheri,
was constructed in 1867 in the Gothic Style of architecture.

Lal Bagh Gardens:

Conceived and laid out by 18th-century ruler Sultan Hyder Ali in 1760, the botanical gardens at Lal Bagh occupy an area of more than 240 acres. The garden was further expanded by his son Tipu Sultan, “the Lion of Mysore” who planted a wide variety of plants from different parts of the world including Persia, Kabul, Turkey, and Mauritius. The Glass House, structurally based on the Crystal Palace in London, is another highlight of the Lalbagh Gardens.