About Bengaluru Or Tourist Places in Bengaluru Or Bengaluru Sightseeing
Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka is one of the prettiest and cleanest cities of India. It is popularly alled as the ‘Garden City’ and has earned several other epitaphs like an ‘Air-conditioned City’, for its salubrious climate throughout the year; the ‘Silicon Valley’ of India, for its rapidly growing software market and the ‘City of Draught Beer’ etc. The foundation of the present day Bangalore was laid in 1537, by Kempe Gowda, a Magadi chieftain, owing allegiance to the king or Vijayanagar. The cantonment area of Bengaluru was developed by the British in early 19th century, after the fall of Tipu Sultan.
Places to Visit in Bengaluru Or Tourist Places in Bengaluru, Karnataka India
Vidhan Soudha
This majestic structure towering over the Cubbon Park, houses the Secretariat and the State Legislature, as well as several other State government offices. The magnificent edifice built of granite in the neo Dravidian style of architecture is one of the most spectacular buildings of India. The four storeyed building covering a total plinth area of over 500000 sq ft was conceived and executed by Kengal Hanumanthaiah, the former Chief Minister of Karnataka in 1956. The structure is beautiful illuminated on Sunday evenings.
Attar Kacheri (High Court)
The magnificent two storeyed building housing the High Court of Karnataka was built in 1867. It lies in front of the Vidhan Soudha and was originally built to house the Secretariat.
Lalbagh Botanical Gardens
The beautiful garden was laid out in 1760, by Haider Ali and later developed by his son Tipu Sultan. It sprawls over an area of 240 acres and is one of the most beautiful botanical parks of the country. In 1840, an excellent glass house was built resembling the famous Crystal Palace of London.
Cubbon Park & Museums
The park designed by Lt. Gen. Mark Cubbon, in 1864, covers an area of over 300 acres in the heart of the city. It is studded with some splendid sculptures and red Gothic buildings, which house the Public Library, the Children’s Park inside the garden is exclusively for kids. The Hawahar Bal Bhavan here has a children’s centre.
The Government Museum & Venkatappa Art Gallery
It was established in 1886, and is one of the oldest museums of India. The art gallery here has paintings and sculptures done by k. Venkatappa, a renowned artist from the royal court of Mysore.
Visweswaraiah Industrial & Technological Museum
This interesting museum is dedicated to Sir M. Visweswaraiah, the architect of modern Karnataka.
Shiva Statue & ISKCON Temple
The beautiful Hare Krishna shrine of the hillock is a fine blend of modern technology and spiritual harmony. It affords a fine view of the surroundings. A 65 ft tall shiva statue is one of the new attractions of the city.
The fort
It was originally a mud brick structure built by Kempegowda in 1537. Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan rebuilt the structure in the 18th century. Most of the fort was badly damaged during the wars with British.
Tipu Sultan’s Palace
The construction of the palace was started by haider Ali and completed by his son, Tipu Sultan in 1791. The wooden building resembling the Daria Daulat Bagh at Srirangapatnam and houses a museum.
Maharajah’s Bangalore Palace
The magnificent granite palace built in 1887, by the wodeyar’s of Mysore resembles the famous Windsor Castle in England.
Karnataka Fort Art Museum
It displays a wide range of folk arts, costumes, toys and extensive recorded music collection.
Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium
The modern planetarium was built in 1989. An attractive Musical Fountain with dancing waters is set opposite the planetarium.
Dodda Ganapathi Temple
It is one of the oldest temples of Bengaluru. There is huge monolithic statue of Lord Ganapathi, which attracts a large number of devotees.
Sri Gavi Gangadhareswara Temple
The Shiva temple built by Kempe Gowda is famous for a unique event at sunrise on ‘Markar Sankranti’ (14th January). The sun rays pas though an arch between the horns of the Nandi bull outside the temple and illuminates the idol of Lord Gavi Gangadareshwara inside the main shrine.
Dharamraja Temple (Nagarathpet)
It enshrines fine images of Lord Krishna and Sri Dharmaraja Swami, the hero of epic Mahabharata. The scared shrine is also associated with the famous Karaga festival celebrated in March / April.
Basavangudi or the Bull Temple
It was built by Kempegowda on the Bugle Hill in Dravidian style. A large monolith of Nandi, the celestial bull measuring 4.57 metres in height and 6/10 metres in length is breathtaking.
St. Mary’s Basilica
It was originally built in 1818, by Abbe Dubois and was transformed into a huge Gothic style church by Re. Kleiner in 1882.
Venkataramanaswamy Temple
This ancient temple near Tipu Sultan’s Palace was built by Maharaja Chikka Devaraya Wodiyar. It was destroyed during the third Mysore war and was restored by Maharaja Chikka Krishna Devaraya.
Ulsoor Lake
Ulsoor Lake is one of the eight lakes built by Kempe Gowda around Bengaluru. The 1.5 km has picturesque tiny islands and boating facilities are available.