What to See in Bangalore - Top Sights and Attractions

Landscaped gardens and famous glasshouse. Lalbagh Botanical Garden or shortened Lalbagh, is an old botanical garden in Bangalore, India. First planned and laid out during the dalavaiship of Hyder Ali and later managed under numerous British Superintendents before Indian Independence. It was responsible for the introduction and propagation of numerous ornamental plants as well as those of economic value. It also served a social function as a park and recreational space, with a central glass house dating from 1890 which was used for flower shows. In modern times it hosts two flower shows coinciding with the week of Republic Day and Independence Day. As an urban green space along with Cubbon Park, it is also home to numerous wild species of birds and other wildlife. The garden also has a lake adjoining a large rock on which a watchtower had been constructed during the reign of Kempegowda II.^[3]

Historical place in Bengaluru, India. Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace, in Bangalore, India, is an example of Indo-Islamic architecture and was the summer residence of the Mysorean ruler Tipu Sultan. Hyder Ali commenced its construction within the walls of the Bangalore Fort, and it was completed during the reign of Tipu Sultan in 1791. After Tipu Sultan's death in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, the British Administration used the palace for its secretariat before moving to Attara Kacheri in 1868. Today the Archaeological Survey of India maintains the palace, which is located at the center of Old Bangalore near the Kalasipalyam bus stand, as a tourist spot. Entry fee is ₹20 for Indian citizens, while for foreign visitors is ₹200.

The structure was built entirely teak and stands adorned with pillars, arches and balconies. It is believed that Tipu Sultan used to conduct his durbar from the eastern and western balconies of the upper floor. There are four smaller rooms in the corners of first floor which were Zenana Quarters. There are beautiful floral motifs embellishing the walls of the palace. The site also holds a painting of grand throne visualized by Tipu Sultan himself. Coated with gold sheets and stuck with precious emerald stones, Tipu had vowed never to use it until he completely defeated the British Army. After Tipu Sultan's death, the British dismantled the throne and auctioned its parts as it was too expensive for a single person to buy whole.

The rooms in the ground floor have been converted into a small museum showcasing various achievements of Tipu Sultan and his administration. There are newly done portraits of the people and places of that time. There is a replica of Tipu's Tiger, which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Tipu Sultan's clothes and his crown are present in silver and gold pedestals. The silver vessels given by a general to Hyder Ali is also displayed.

The Horticulture Department, Government of Karnataka, maintains the area in front of the palace as a garden and lawn^[5]

Street in Bengaluru, India. Commercial Street is a street in Bangalore, the state capital of Karnataka, India. One of the oldest and busiest shopping areas of the city, the street is famous for its trade in clothes, footwear, jewellery, electronics; and food joints. With only 75 parking slots available on the street for four-wheelers, the street is one of the most crowded in the city.

It's expands between OPH road and K Kamraj road. the shopping locations extend to its bylanes including Dispensary Road and Abrahim Sahab street.

Commercial Street lies in the heart of the city in the Central Business District area in Tasker Town, close to M G Road, another popular shopping area, and Russell Market in Shivajinagar.^[7]

Cricket stadium in Bengaluru, India. The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is a cricket stadium located in Bangalore, Karnataka. Flanked by the picturesque Cubbon Park, Queen's Road, Cubbon and uptown MG Road, this five-decade-old stadium is situated in the heart of the city of Bangalore It has a seating capacity of 40,000, and regularly hosts Test cricket, One Day Internationals, Twenty20 Internationals and other First-class cricket matches, as well as musical and cultural events. The stadium is the home ground of the Karnataka state cricket team and the Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. It is owned by the Government of Karnataka and has been leased out to the Karnataka State Cricket Association for a period of 100 years.

Formerly known as the Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium, it was later rechristened in tribute to Mangalam Chinnaswamy, a lawyer from Mandya and the founding member of the Mysore State Cricket Association. He served the KSCA for four decades and was also president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from 1977–1980.

It is the first cricket stadium in the world to use solar panels to generate a bulk of the electricity needed to run the stadium. This has been procured as by the "Go Green" initiative of the KSCA. As of 13 January 2020 it has hosted 22 Tests, 24 ODI^[9]

Hindu temple in Bengaluru, India. Dodda Basavana Gudi is situated in Bull Temple Road, Basavanagudi, area of South Bengaluru, part of the largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. The Hindu temple is inside a park called Bugle Rock.

The bull referred to is a sacred Hindu demi-god, known as Nandi; Nandi is a close devotee and attendant of Shiva. Dodda Basavana Gudi is said to be the biggest temple to Nandi in the world. The stone monolith idol of Nandi is continually covered with new layers of butter, benne in the local language of Kannada. There is an idol of the elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesha close by.

Every year on the last Monday and Tuesday of the Hindu month of Karthika Maasa a groundnut fair is held in the temple premises and groundnut is offered to the deity. This fair is known as 'Kadalekaayi Parishe' in local tongue. Groundnut sellers and devotees throng the place during Kadalekaayi Parishe.

Basavana Gudi is a regular place of visit for tourists and is covered by most of the tour operators including the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation.^[10]

Fortress in Bengaluru, India. Bangalore Fort began in 1537 as a mud fort. The builder was Kempe Gowda I, a vassal of the Vijaynagar Empire and the founder of Bangalore. Hyder Ali in 1761 replaced the mud fort with a stone fort and it was further improved by his son Tipu Sultan in the late 18th century. It was damaged during an Anglo-Mysore war in 1791. It still remains a good example of 18th-century military fortification. The army of the British East India Company, led by Lord Cornwallis on 21 March 1791 captured the fort in the siege of Bangalore during the Third Mysore War. At the time the fort was a stronghold for Tipu Sultan. Today, the fort's Delhi gate, on Krishnarajendra Road, and two bastions are the primary remains of the fort. A marble plaque commemorates the spot where the British breached fort's wall, leading to its capture. The old fort area also includes Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace, and his armoury. The fort has provided the setting for the treasure hunt in the book Riddle of the Seventh Stone.^[16]

Cathedral in Bengaluru, India. St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangalore in India. Initially, Bangalore was the seat of the diocese of Mysore from 1886 to 1940 and during this time, St. Patrick's church in Bangalore was the cathedral of the diocese. When the diocese of Mysore was bifurcated on 13 February 1940 to form the diocese of Bangalore, St. Francis Xavier's church was chosen as its cathedral.

The first church of St. Francis Xavier was constructed in 1851 by French missionaries of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Due to the huge increase in the catholic population, this church eventually became inadequate. Hence in 1911, the foundation stone was laid for a new church. This church was inaugurated on 26 May 1932, which would become a cathedral in 1940. Two new domes of the facade were inaugurated on its platinum jubilee in the year 2009. Bangalore archbishop Bernard Moras re-dedicated the cathedral to St. Francis Xavier. The domes had been constructed along with several other renovations. Though they were part of the original plan of the cathedral, they could not be completed due to lack of funds.

The cathedral's large compound has three schools: St. Aloysius', St. Anthony's and St. Rock's. There is also a Shrine dedicated to St. Anthony.^[19]

Park in Bengaluru, India. Cubbon Park, officially known as Sri Chamarajendra Park, is a landmark 'lung' area of Bengaluru city, located within the heart of the city in the Central Administrative Area. Originally created in 1870, when Major General Richard Sankey was the then British Chief Engineer of Mysore state, it covered an area of 100 acres and subsequent expansion has taken place and the area reported now is about 300 acres. It has a rich recorded history of abundant flora and fauna plantations coupled with numerous impressive and aesthetically located buildings and statues of famous personages, in its precincts.

This public park was first named as Meade’s Park after Sir John Meade, the acting Commissioner of Mysuru in 1870 and subsequently renamed as Cubbon Park after the longest-serving commissioner of the time, Sir Mark Cubbon. To commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Sri Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s rule in Mysore State, in 1927, the park was again renamed as Sri. Chamarajendra Park, in memory of the 19th-century ruler of the state Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyar (1868–94), during whose rule the park came into existence.

The landscaping in the park creatively integrates natural rock outcrops with thickets of trees, massive bamboos, with grassy expanse and flowerbeds and the monuments within its limits, regulated by the Horticulture Department of the Government of Karnataka. The predominantly green area of the park has many motorable roads, and the well-laid-out walking paths running through the park are frequented by early morning walkers and the naturalists who study plants in the tranquil natural environment. Tourists visiting this park in the city of Bengaluru have nicknamed the city itself as 'Garden City'.

The importance of the park to the city's environment is best stated by two urban architects who have won the national competition to design 'Freedom Park'.^[21]

The Hebbal-Kittayya 750CE Inscription is one of the oldest known Kannada language inscriptions in Kannada script and Bangalore's oldest inscription. The inscription was discovered on 1 May 2018 in Hebbal. The inscription is on a Ooralivu Veeragallu in honour of Hebbal native Kittayya. Ooralivu veeragallu’s are memorial stones erected in honour of a person martyred defending an attack on his or her town.

Discovered by a few residents in Hebbal, this inscription was deciphered by P.V. Krishnamurthy, professor of epigraphy at the Kannada Sahitya Parishat as an inscription from the era of Ganga King Sripurusha in the 8th century CE.

The Ooralivu Veeragallu inscription is now installed in a crowd-funded Ganga-style stone mantapa adjoining the Hebbal city library, Bangalore.^[22]

Masjid-e-Bilal is one of the largest mosques of Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It was inaugurated in mid-2015. The Turkish-style 'Masjid Eidgah Bilal' on Bannerghatta road was consecrated on 11 June. The mosque sits on the corner of a traffic intersection on a popular thoroughfare of southern part of the city. Prestige Group developers undertook the construction which began in 2010 and was completed recently. At that time Janab Alhaj Habeeb Khan Saheb was president of this committee from 2004 to 2015. The mosque constructed at a cost of Rs. 200,000,000 provides space for 6,500 people to pray at a time. A considerable portion of the cost was contributed by the Prestige Group.

The four story mosque was constructed on a portion of the 1.45-acre Bilal Eidgah. The land was purchased in 1990 for the purpose of Eid congregation ground at a price of ₹ 10,000,000 from the Bangalore Development Authority. Local MLA and Ex transport Minister and Ex Home Minister of Karnataka Ramalinga Reddy helped the community to acquire the place.

Present president Alhaj Ashraf Saheb and secretary Alhaj Faiyaz Saheb told the Islamic Voice that the mosque occupies nearly 42,000 sq. ft. area. The Eidgah ground provides parking space for nearly 500 vehicles. Hazrath Maulana Mohammed Shakirulla Saheb is the imam and Khatib of the mosque. The consecration ceremony had Maulana Qasim Qureshi as the chief guest.^[25]

Presbyterian church in Bengaluru, India. St. Andrew's Church, consecrated in 1866, is a Presbyterian church, located on Cubbon Road, Bangalore. Initially knows as St. Andrews's Kirk, it was a Church of Scotland church till 1959 when it became part of the Karnataka Central Diocese of the Church of South India. The church is named after Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. St Andrew's Church celebrated its 150 years anniversary on 20 November 2014.

The church was consecrated in memory of Mary Elizabeth McGoun (died 1867), wife of Col. Thomas McGoun of the 6th Madras Native Infantry (died 19 April 1868 at Marseilles on the way back to Scotland, has a memorial stone at the St. Andrew's Kirk, Madras), it was once known as the martyr's church. The monument to the memory of Mary Elizabeth is located at the end of the church altar.^[27]

Technology park in Bengaluru, India. Bagmane Tech Park is a software technological park in India. The park is situated at CV Raman Nagar in Bengaluru. This park is built and maintained by Bagmane Group. The park shares its boundaries with HAL and DRDO and is near the HAL Airport. It is equipped with all modern class facilities and is surrounded by a lake near the entrance. It also contains a shopping mall.

The park is home to some of the most prominent companies in world like Boeing India Pvt Ltd etc. Alstom Transport, CommVault Systems, Netserv Technologies, Informatica, Cypress Semiconductor, Dover Corporation, HSBC, Motorola, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Sapient Corporation, Grant Thornton India, Oracle Financial Services Software Limited, HP, Juniper Networks, Ericsson, Lenovo, Texas Instruments, LinkedIn, MphasiS, Sasken, Micro Focus, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Ogilvy, Volvo, Dell, Tecnotree, Concur Technologies, PwC, BankBazaar, CME Group, Palo Alto Networks, Campus Management Corp.

The park consists of 10 large buildings.^[28]