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TOURIST SPOTS IN BANGALORE
BANGALORE SIGHTSEEING TOURS
KSTDC (Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation Limited) operates two daily sightseeing tours round the city.
| 1. |
Departure - At 7.30 am and at 2 pm. Return - 1.30 pm and 7.30 pm respectively
Fare - Rs 100
The tour takes you around the city starting at Tipu's Palace. The next halt is at Bull Temple, followed by Lalbagh, Ulsoor Lake, Cauvery handicrafts emporium, Vidhana Soudha and finally the Museum. |
| 2. |
Departure - Daily at 8 am. Return - 8 pm.
Fare - Rs 150
This tour takes you around the city and covers some of the new wonders of Bangalore. The places covered in this trip are Raja- rajeshwari Temple, Bannerghatta National Park, Sankey Boat Club, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, ISKCON Temple, Prasanna Anjaneya temple and the Musical Fountain. |
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These buses have a seating capacity of 35 with 22 seats branded "Silver Class" which have a pullout tray for refreshments as in air-conditioned railway coaches. Like the executive class on airlines, there are three Gold Class seats which are larger and with more legroom at the rear end of the coach. All passengers get to hear the FM radio channel with music, entertainment and the latest city news.
The public address system is used to describe the sights they pass through and where they next stop. The daily trip starts at 8.45 a.m. from Kempegowda Bus Station and returns there by 8 p.m. after covering the sights of Bangalore.
The Silver Class tickets cost Rs. 200 on weekdays and Rs. 250 on weekends and holidays and the Gold Class costs Rs. 300 and Rs. 350. Children aged between 6 and 12 are charged half the adult fare. For information about the city tours, call 22952311 or 9844263157.
Conceptree Creations, a Management Consultancy Firm plans to launch City Swaps which is an innovative new tourist sightseeing service on open-air, double-decker buses. This service will have a dedicated route covering 30 tourist attractions with a live commentary on each.
Each tourist on City Swaps will be provided with a day pass to travel on any of the five buses that cover a customised circuit. They can hop on or off the bus at any of the tourist attractions they like and spend as much time as they desire since they can take the next bus on the circuit, which is available every 30 minutes. This provides a great deal of flexibility and customisation to suit individual preferences and tastes.
Some of the other highlights of the service include accessible seating for senior citizens and physically challenged persons on the lower deck, an on-board cafe, flexible ticketing for families, children and senior citizens. Besides this, City Swaps will also offer annual memberships to corporate houses and frequent visitors. Watch out for this innovative service by mid-July.
TOURIST PLACES IN BANGALORE
Now we will try to list down some of the tourist attractions in Bangalore.
VIDHAN SOUDHA
The magnificent building towering over the Cubbon Park houses the secretariat and the state legislature. It is built of granite in the neo - Dravidian style of architecture and can be described as one of the most spectacular buildings of India.
LALBAGH BOTANICAL GARDENS
The beautiful garden was laid out in 1760, by Haider Ali and later developed by his son Tippu Sultan, It sprawls over an area of 240 acres and is considered to be one of the most beautiful botanical parks of the country. The park has one of the largest collections of rare tropical and sub-tropical plants in India. There are also centuries old trees, lakes, lotus ponds, flower beds and a deer park.
CUBBON PARK & MUSEUMS
It was designed by Lt. Gen. Mark Cubbon, in 1864. The park covers an area of over 300 acres in the heart of the city and is the green zone of Bangalore. There are also some splendid sculptures in the park.
The children's park inside the garden is exclusively for kids, adults are allowed entry only if accompanied by children. The Jawahar Bal Bhavan here has a chidren's centre, which screens children filims and also conducts courses in pottery, aeromodelling etc.
Cubbon Park is also dotted with red gothic buildings, which house the Public livrary, the High Court, the Government Museum and the Technological & Industrial Museum. The Government Museum was established in 1886, and is one of the oldest museum of the country. It has collections on geology, art, numismatics and relics from Mohanjodaro, Halebidu and Vijayanagar.
TECHNOLOGICAL & INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM
Technological & Industrial Museum exhibits application of science and technology to industry and human welfare.
THE FORT
It was originally a mud brick structure built by Kepegowda 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
Its construction was started by Haider Ali and was completed by Tipu Sultan in 1791. The wooden building resembles the Daria Daulat Bagh at Srirangapatanam. Today, it houses a museum, which exhibits artifacts from era of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan.
ATTARA KACHERI (HIGH COURT)
The elegant two storied building of Attara Kacheri or 'Eighteen Courts', houses the High Court of Karnataka and several lower courts. It lies just in front of the Vidhan Soudha and was built in 1867, to house the Secretriat.
BASAVANGUDI OR THE BULL TEMPLE
It was built by Kempegowda and is the oldest temple of Bangalore. The temple situated on the Bugle Hill is built in Dravidian style, housing a large monolith of Nandi the celestial bull. The imposing sculpture of Nandi measures 4.57 meters in height in height and 6.10 meters in length.
DODDA GANAPATHI TEMPLE
It is one of the oldest temple of Bangalore. There is a huge monolithic statue of Lord Ganapathi, which attracts large number of devotees.
SRI GAVI GANGADHARESWARA TEMPLE
The temple dedicated to Lord Shiva was built by Kempe Gowda. Large number of devotees gather here on 'Makar Sankranti' (14th Jan), to witness a unique phenomenon when the rays of sun passes through a arch between the horns of the sculpture of Nandi Bull, outside the temple and illuminates the idol of Lord Gavi Gangadeshwara set inside the main shrine. this spell binding phenomenon is a testimony to great architectural skills and astronomical knowledge of the builders of bygone area.
WATCH TOWERS
The remains of the four watch towers built by Kempegowda are worth visiting.
KARNATAKA FOLK ART MUSEUM
It displays a wide range of folk arts, costumes, toys and extensive recorded music collection.
Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium
The modern planetarium built in 1989 provides an insight into the world of astronomy, through interesting shows at sky theare. An atrractive Musical Foundation with dancing water is set opposite the planetarium.
JUMMA MASJID
It was built by mughal killedar and is the oldest mosque of the city. The mosque was destroyed during the third Mysore war and was rebuilt in 1836, by Mohiyuddin Ali Khan Mekkri, the Baksh of the Bangalore court.
ST. MARK’S CATHEDRAL
The impressive roman Catholic cathedral with beautifully carved arches in Roman style was built in 1926. The intricate wood work inside the cathedral is noteworthy.
MAHARAJAH’S BANGALORE PALACE
It resembles the famous Windsor Castle in England and was built in 1887, by the Wodeyar’s of Mysore. The grand palace is noted for its exquisite wood carvings.
ISKCON TEMPLE
The beautiful Hare Krishna shrine on the hillock attracts large number of devotees. The fusion of modern technology and spiritual harmony makes it a worth visiting site. The panoramic view of the surroundings is spell binding.
VENKATARAMANASWAMY TEMPLE
This ancient temple near Tipu Sultan’s Palace was built by Maharaja Chikka Devaraya Wodiyar in a typical Dravidian style. It was destroyed during the third Mysore war and was restored in its original shape by Maharaja Chikka Krishna Devaraya.
THAVAKKAL MASTAN SAAB DARGAH
The dargah of sufi saint Thavakkal Mastan attracts devotees from all faiths and beliefs. The procession of ‘Karaga festival’ always stops here to pay respect to the saint, before proceeding to Dharmaraya temple. The event symbolizes unity among Hindus and Muslims.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS
Bangalore is studded with various public buildings built during the colonial rule. These structures still retain the grandeur of the by gone era. The important buildings are – The Mayo Hall, Daly Memorial Hall and Puttanachetty Town Hall.
ULSOOR LAKE
It is one of the eight lakes built by Kempe Gowda around Bangalore. The lake extends over an area of 1.5 sq. km. and has picturesque tiny islands. Boating facilities are also available.
WALKING TOURS
Shortly, the Karnataka Government in association with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) is introducing the "Heritage Walks" to assist tourists without tourist packages to several interesting heritage sites located in and around Bangalore.
Under this novel scheme, well-trained tourist guides will take tourists around historical sites in the City. The first walk will be around the Bangalore Fort area in Kalasipalyam. According to the route map of Intach, the circuit will include the Kote Venkataramana Swamy temple, Tipu's armoury, Tipu's summer palace, Bangalore Fort and the Jalakantesh-wara temple. Another ambitious walk being planned is around the Ulsoor lake which will include the Someshwara temple, Subramanya temple, old heritage buildings surrounding the temples and Ulsoor Lake, the natural heritage.
The Bangalore Walks have indeed become popular among the visiting public. A local resident has started Weekend Walks with Breakfast and takes the tourists on two walks he calls "Victorian Walks" and "End of Empire". All walks start at 7.00 am and ends at 9.30 am. For further details on these walks check the website on Bangalore Walks.
The 200-year-old Tipu's armoury, which is close to the Bangalore Medical College, is getting a facelift now at an estimated cost of Rs 470,000.
HOW TO REACH BANGALORE
Bangalore is 135 kms from Mysore, 369 kms from Trichy, 303 kms from Pondichery, 1997 kms from Patna, 570 kms from Goa, 432 kms from Madurai, 335 kms from Chennai, 566 kms from hyderabad, 545 kms from Cochin.
By Air: Bangalore is well connected with almost all the cities in India. Indian Airlines and Jet Airways have daily services to the major cities and Sahara Airlines operates to Mumbai. Indian Airlines and Air India operate to few international cities. Rayal Nepal operates 2 flights in a week to Kathmandu, and Malaysian Airlines operates to Malaysia.
By Rail: Bangalore is well connected by excellent train services to most of the cities in Inida. The main railway station is the Bangalore city railway station. The other railway stations are Whitefield, Cantonment, Krishnarajapuram, Yeshwanthpur and Bangalore East railway station.
By Road: K.S.R.T.C, the State run Transport Corporation has daily services to various towns in Karnataka and as well to other nearing states. Bus services are also run by several other state road transport cormporations and private bus operators. B.M.T.C, the Bangalore City Transport Corporation has bus services to many places within the city. Apart from the local city buses, one can choose to travel by Auto Rikshwa or by City Taxi.
[ + ] BANGALORE DISTANCE CHART
[ + ] PICNIC SPOTS NEAR BANGALORE
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