Theme Week India – Bangalore

Wednesday, 24 April 2019 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
Reading Time:  7 minutes

Bangalore Palace © Nikkul/cc-by-sa-3.0

Bangalore Palace © Nikkul/cc-by-sa-3.0

Bangalore, officially known as Bengaluru, is the capital city of Karnataka. It has a population of over ten million, making it a megacity and the third most populous city and fifth most populous urban agglomeration in India. It is located in southern India on the Deccan Plateau at an elevation of over 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level, which is the highest among India’s major cities. It reflects its multireligious and cosmopolitan character by its more than 1000 temples, 400 mosques, 100 churches, 40 Jain derasars, three Sikhgurdwaras, two Buddhist viharas and one Parsi fire temple located in an area of 741 km² of the metropolis. The religious places are further represented to include the few members of the Jewish community who are making their presence known through the Chabad that they propose to establish in Bengaluru and the fairly large number of Bahá’ís whose presence is registered with a society called the Bahá’í Centre.

In 1537 CE, Kempé Gowdā – a feudal ruler under the Vijayanagara Empire – established a mud fort considered to be the foundation of modern Bengaluru and its oldest areas Or Petes which exist to the present day. After the fall of Vijayanagar empire in 16th Century, the Mughals sold Bangalore to Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar (1673–1704), the then ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore for three lakh rupees. When Haider Ali seized control of the Kingdom of Mysore, the administration of Bangalore passed into his hands. It was captured by the British East India Company after victory in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799), who returned administrative control of the city to the Maharaja of Mysore. The old city developed in the dominions of the Maharaja of Mysore and was made capital of the Princely State of Mysore, which existed as a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj.

In 1809, the British shifted their cantonment to Bangalore, outside the old city, and a town grew up around it, which was governed as part of British India. Following India’s independence in 1947, Bangalore became the capital of Mysore State, and remained capital when the new Indian state of Karnataka was formed in 1956. The two urban settlements of Bangalore – city and cantonment – which had developed as independent entities merged into a single urban centre in 1949. The existing Kannada name, Bengalūru, was declared the official name of the city in 2006.

Bangalore is sometimes referred to as the “Silicon Valley of India” (or “IT capital of India”) because of its role as the nation’s leading information technology (IT) exporter. Indian technological organisations ISRO, Infosys, Wipro and HAL are headquartered in the city. A demographically diverse city, Bangalore is the second fastest-growing major metropolis in India. Bangalore has one of the most highly educated workforces in the world. It is home to many educational and research institutions in India, such as Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) (IIMB), International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIITB), National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore, National Institute of Design, Bangalore (NID R&D Campus), National Law School of India University (NLSIU) and National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS). Numerous state-owned aerospace and defence organisations, such as Bharat Electronics, Hindustan Aeronautics and National Aerospace Laboratories are located in the city. The city also houses the Kannada film industry.

Mysore Palace Gate © Arshad.ka/cc-by-sa-4.0 Old Bangalore Fort © Pavithrah/cc-by-sa-3.0 Bangalore Palace © Nikkul/cc-by-sa-3.0 Begur Nageshwara Temple © Dineshkannambadi/cc-by-sa-3.0 Central Tower at Feedom Park © Diham/cc-by-3.0 Lalbagh Botanical Gardens © Stylistica/cc-by-3.0
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Begur Nageshwara Temple © Dineshkannambadi/cc-by-sa-3.0
Bangalore is known as the “Garden City of India” because of its greenery, broad streets and the presence of many public parks, such as Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park. Bangalore is sometimes called as the “Pub Capital of India” and the “Rock/Metal Capital of India” because of its underground music scene and it is one of the premier places to hold international rock concerts. In May 2012, Lonely Planet ranked Bangalore 3rd among the world’s top 10 cities to visit.

Bangalore is also home to many vegan-friendly restaurants and vegan activism groups, and has been named as India’s most vegan-friendly city by PETA India.

Biannual flower shows are held at the Lal Bagh Gardens during the week of Republic Day (26 January) and Independence Day (15 August). Bangalore Karaga or “Karaga Shaktyotsava” is one of the most important and oldest festivals of Bangalore dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Draupadi. It is celebrated annually by the Thigala community, over a period of nine days in the month of March or April. The Someshwara Car festival is an annual procession of the idol of the Halasuru Someshwara Temple (Ulsoor) led by the Vokkaligas, a major land holding community in the southern Karnataka, occurring in April. Karnataka Rajyotsava is widely celebrated on 1 November and is a public holiday in the city, to mark the formation of Karnataka state on 1 November 1956. Other popular festivals in Bangalore are Ugadi, Ram Navami, Eid ul-Fitr, Ganesh Chaturthi, St. Mary’s feast, Dasara, Deepawali and Christmas.

The diversity of cuisine is reflective of the social and economic diversity of Bangalore. Bangalore has a wide and varied mix of restaurant types and cuisines and Bangaloreans deem eating out as an intrinsic part of their culture. Roadside vendors, tea stalls, and South Indian, North Indian, Chinese and Western fast food are all very popular in the city. Udupi restaurants are very popular and serve predominantly vegetarian, regional cuisine (Culture of Bangalore).

Here you can find the complete Overview of all Theme Weeks.

Read more on LonelyPlanet.com – Bangalore, Tourism-of-India.com – Bangalore, Wikitravel Bangalore, Wikivoyage Bangalore and Wikipedia Bangalore. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




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