 Bangalore
is the English version of Bengalooru, the way it is pronounced in the local
language Kannada. It is said that the word Bengalooru originated from the
sentence "Bendakaalooru" meaning "City of baked-beans", as the color of the
soil resembled that of baked bean. During the first centuries immediately
after Christ, the Southern part of the present day Karnataka state, where
Bangalore is located, Jainism was the main religious belief. Once part of
the Vijayanagar kingdom, this city was founded by Kempa Gowda in 1537AD.
Later, ruled by Tipu and other Mysore kings as well as the British. It was
a major military base for the British. To date a vast area of the city is
retained by Indian military and defense forces and is not open to visitors
and the public. After independence, the Indian government setup
strategically important defense, telecommunication and aeronautical
development industries here, as it is located hundreds of miles away from
the mainland coast and thus safe from possible enemy attacks. The early
1980s saw State (provincial) government initiating a number of electronic
industries here and later in 1990s this became a natural hub of the Indian
Software Industry. A big chunk of Indian Software Engineers are based out
of Bangalore. Bangalore has been home to many eminent personalities like Dr
C V Raman, Girish Karnad, Narayan Murthy, Prakash Padukone, G R Vishwanath
etc.Bangalore is famous for its booming IT and Internet industry.
The city has a large Anglo-Indian minority and is considerably more
westernized than many Indian cities. The fact that Bangalore is a high-tech
place does not mean that it has no interesting sights. It's simply an
all-round place. You might want to visit the Palace of Tippu Sultan, once
home to the south Indian king famous for battling the British, the Bull
Temple, the Indian Institute of Science and other scientific research
institutes, Cubbon Park, and the 240-acre/100-hectare Lal Bagh botanical
garden: its pools, terraces, fountains, trees, and herbs are highlights.
Bangalore is also an excellent starting point for exploring Southern
India and the state of Karnataka in particular. Bangalore is 855 km
southeast of Mumbai. It lends itself well to a day-trip to Hampi. There are
also a number of organized day trips to Mysore, the historic capital of the
state during British India, when it was the princely state of Mysore.
Many international tourists consider Bangalore, one of the five biggest
Metropolitan cities of India, as just a connecting place to other
destinations. They haven't heard of any interesting places in this area,
especially compared to neighboring Kerala and Goa. Yet, many people visit
Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, Cubbon Park, Vidhan Soudha- the state assembly
building, International Tech Park at WhiteField, Vishweshwariah Industrial
Museum, Bannerghatta National Park, Shopping Streets like MG Road, Brigade
Road and Commercial Street. Malls like Forum and Bangalore Central are the
latest places to hang-out for the city's youth.
The important tourist destinations of South India are easily accessible
from here: Mysore Palace, Nandi Hills, Coorg,Ooty and Kodaikanal
hill-stations, Bandipur National Park and other reserved forest areas,
Hampi and Hassan district's ruins of medieval sculptures, Jogfalls and
other fascinating waterfalls, scenic backwaters and the ayurvedic
relaxation centers of Kerala. The main attractor of tourists to Bangalore
is its nice climate (except in March - May) and its large, English speaking,
modern-minded, population. One sees a mix of different Indian linguistic
groups here. Most of the local shopkeepers speak four to five languages. It
is one of the few cities in India, where one can easily get by without knowing
the local language. The rapid pace of development during the last few
decades caused hundreds of thousands to migrate here from rural areas and
other Indian states.
Globalization of market helped Bangalore to emerge as the global
customer support business outsourcing hub. It is not rupees that are
shaping the new face of Bangalore, but dollars/pounds sterling, etc. Real
estate value has shot up several times during the last two decades making
lare areas unaffordable for the average Indian. The fast development of
Bangalore has attracted multinational corporations and large Indian
corporations, pubs and night life, clubs and party halls, multi-storied
buildings and highways, broadband Internet and Internet cafes, amusement
and lake-side parks, travel business and packaged tours, five-star hotels
and resorts, flyovers and shopping malls. But this trend also has brought
in pollution, corruption, escalation in the crime rate, drinking water
scarcity, mosquito menace, large scale rural to urban migration, and
expansion of slum areas. Business interests decide government policies more
than the democratic will of the people. The outskirts of Bangalore
witnessed massive real estate development especially around the designated
area of the proposed International Airport of Devanahalli, and Information
Technology Corridor area. All in all it is a very friendly city.
Things you may feel happy about Bangalore: modern friendly people, a
relatively international culture, good climate and availability of food and
consumer items from across the world.
Things you may feel unhappy about Bangalore: The fact that the garden
city is rapidly losing its serene charm, increase in the greed for money,
pollution, corruption, traffic jams, poverty, crime related issues,
mosquitoes, scarcity of drinking water, lack of long term interest of
authorities and businesses, unclean streets.
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