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Bangalore is a booming city and con sidered
fifth largest and the fastest growing city in Asia. Home to well
over 6 million people, and a base for over 10,000 industries,
Bangalore combines a quaint old world charm with the hustle and
bustle of a modern metropolitan city. It is a delightful place
with an amalgamation of various rich cultures, crafts, and
heritage centers. This city while enjoying the reputation of being
a modern, high-tech city, still offers a lot of places of
historical interest for the avid sightseer to explore.
A trip around the city can be very
interesting and provides a varied sightseeing experience with
Palaces, museums, temples, churches and gardens. It has an
enviable posterity and presents much to be discovered. Despite
being one of Asia's fastest growing cities, Bangalore remains one
of the most elegant metros in India.A well-planned city, with
tree-lined avenues,a large number of parks, gardens and
lakes,Bangalore is aptly called India's garden city. Bangalore is
even gaining the status of the "Floriculture Capital of India" due
to the present blossoming of flower exports from the city. The
beautiful parks like the Lalbagh and Cubbon Park are indeed a
treat to the eyes. Take a tour of the wonderful places you can go
sight seeing in Bangalore by clicking at the links to your right.
Sightseeing
1. Bull Temple
– It is situated in Basavanagudi ( Basava means bull in
Kannada). It is the oldest temple built in the Dravidian style by
Kempe Gowda, founder of Bangalore and has a monolithic Nandi, the
bull (vahana or vehicle of Lord Shiva). Karnataka Tourism website
tells me the imposing sculpture of Nandi measures 4.57 meters in
height in height and 6.10 meters in length. There is a legend
associated with the temple. You can also see the famous Dodda
Ganesh temple next to the Bull temple. Apparently there is a huge
monolithic statue of Lord Ganapathi about 18 ft in height and 16
ft in width, coated with kilos of butter. We didn’t have time to
visit that temple so no photos. Timings of Bull Temple : 6 am to 8
pm.
Vidhana Soudha
Bangalore's best-known landmark, the Vidhana Soudha houses the
Legislative Chambers of the State Government. This 46-metre high
edifice was built almost entirely of granite and is a masterpiece
of temple architecture.
Government Museum Government Museum
This beautiful 125 year-old structure with its Corinthian columns
houses one of the oldest museums in the city. The museum boasts an
exquisite collection of coins, sculptures, inscriptions, old
paintings and excavated items.
Cubbon Park
This 135 year-old park i s
a 300 acre oasis of greenery in the heart of modern Bangalore. The
park was laid out in 1864 by Lord Cubbon, the then viceroy of
India. The red Gothic structures of the State Central Library and
the High Court enrich the natural beauty of the park. The park
houses a number of significant institutions like the Cheshire Dyer
Memorial Hall, Ottawa Chatter, Museum, Century Club and the Press
Club.
Visvesvaraya Industrial &
Technological Museum
The museum is a tribute to the brilliance of Sir M. Visvesvaraya,
one of the architects of modern Karnataka. Highlights of the
museum include 5 galleries, namely Engine Hall, Electronic
Technology Gallery, Kimbe Paper Metals Gallery, Popular Science
Gallery and Children's' Science Gallery. The museum even has an
airplane and a steam engine on display in its compound. Some of
the exhibits are interactive too!.
Lal Bagh Gardens
The rulers of this region in the 18th century, Hyder Ali and his
son Tipu Sultan, laid out a paradise-like garden, which sprawled
over 240 acres. The garden was graced with rare trees from Persia,
Afghanistan and France. This expanse of greenery is now one of
India's most beautiful botanical gardens. At the heart of the
gardens is situated the Glass House, whose design was inspired by
the Crystal Palace in London. Flower shows are held here every
January and August.
Nandi Hills
This is a well-known tourist spot, 60 km fr om
Bangalore on the road to Devanahalli. Tipu's Drop is a spot that
affords dramatic views of the valley below. Legend has it that
Tipu let captured soldiers plunge to their deaths from this
precipice. . The best time to visit Nandi Hills is between July
and February.
Shiva Statue
This 65-foot high statue depicts Lord Shiva seated in Lotus
position with a the backdrop of Mount Kailash with the river Ganga
flowing from his matted locks. The statue is lit at night and
looks looks really majestic.
Sri Gavi Gangadhar-Eshwara Temple
This is a cave temple, which can lay claim to being both an
architectural and scientific marvel. On Makara Sankranthi day
during January every year, a ray of sunlight passes precisely
through the horns of the stone bull outside the temple and
illuminates the deity, the Shiva Linga, inside the cave. |