Sightseeing OverviewThere are two parts of Bengaluru city which have functional as well as sightseeing interest to visitors - Gandhinagar to the west and MG Road 4km (2.5 miles) to the east.
Gandhinagar has the central bus stand and the main railway station. Known locally as ‘Majestic’, it is crowded, bustling and full of shops, cinemas and budget hotels.
MG Road has mid-range accommodation, banks, restaurants and tourist information. In between is
Cubbon Park, Bengaluru’s equivalent of Central Park in New York. Round the northern fringes
of the park are the British-era buildings, the High Court, a golf course and a racecourse.
At the eastern edge of Cubbon Park are the
Government Museum with its stone carvings and ancient relics and the
Venkatappa Art Gallery with paintings by Indian artists. Nearby is the
Government Aquarium. The most ‘Indian’ part of the city lies to the south, starting with the
City Market with fruit and veg, spices and garlands, and going on to
Tipu’s Palace, the old
Lalbagh Botanical Gardens and the
Bull Temple. The
Iskcon Temple is 8km (5 miles) northwest of town.
Tourist InformationGovernment of India Tourist Office
KFC Building, 48 Church Street
Tel: (080) 2558 5417.
Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation
49 Khanija Bhavan, West Gate, Racecourse Road
Tel: (080) 2227 5883.
Karnataka Tourism
Old Exhibition Building, Irwin Road
Tel: (080) 2235 2828.
Website:
www.karnatakatourism.orgMaps are free at the above agencies and Gangaram’s Book Bureau at 72 MG Road has a wide range of travel books and maps.
PassesThere are free passes to many of the tourist sights and reduced-price passes for others and the many museums. They are available from KSTDC.
Key Attractions:Cubbon Park
This large, 120-hectare (300-acre) green space right in the heart of the city is shaded by massive clumps of bamboo and is a perfect place for picnics. One feature is a statue of the old colonial empress herself, Queen Victoria.
Free admission.
Lalbagh Botanical Gardens
‘Lalbagh’ means ‘red garden’ and a feature of these botanical gardens, located 4km (2.5 miles) south of the city center, is an enormous swathe of red roses. The gardens were laid out in the 18th century by Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan and many of the trees have been there since the beginning. They are home to one of India’s largest collections of rare tropical plants and a glasshouse modeled on London’s Crystal Palace.
South Bangalore
Tel: (080) 2657 3667.
Website:
www.horticulture.kar.nic.in/lalbagh.htmFree admission.
The Fort and Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace
A few minutes walk south of the City Market are
The Fort and
Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace. The fort, at Krishna Rajendra Road, was built in stone by Tipu Sultan on the site of an earlier mud brick one. Much of it was destroyed in the wars with the British and it has not been restored or well maintained.
Tipu’s Summer Palace is built of wood and has notable teak pillars but much of its painted decoration has disappeared.
Admission charge.
Bull Temple
Bull Temple, 2km (1.2 miles) further south at Bugle Hill, dates from the 16th century and contains a granite monolith of Nandi, the bull. There are often prayer gatherings, musicians and wedding processions to be seen.
Bugle Hill
Free admission.
Iskcon Temple
The
Iskcon Temple, 8km (5 miles) northwest of town, is a shiny modern temple lavishly decorated. Iskcon stands for International Society of Krishna Consciousness, sometimes known as the Hare Krishnas. It is open to the public and has a multimedia cinema showing films on the Hare Krishna movement. For the converted there are five shrines.
Hare Krishna Hill, Chord Road
Free admission.
Further Distractions:Vishana Soudha
The
Vishana Soudha is Bengaluru’s most imposing building. It was built in 1954 by convicts in the ancient Dravidian style, complete with onion domes. It houses the Secretariat and the State Legislature. As such, it is not open to the public.
Northwestern end of Cubbon Park
Bangalore Palace
Bangalore Palace, in the north of the city, was built in 1880 during the time of the British Raj as a replica of Windsor Castle, complete with granite towers, turrets and battlements. It was purchased by the descendants of the royal dynasty, the Wodeyars of Mysore, and part of the family still live there so it is, unfortunately not open to the public.
Palace Road
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