Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka, is a veritable melting pot of various races and cultures. This Garden City has well - laid out parks, gardens, long avenues of blossoming trees and salubrious climate. Emerging as the hi-tech capital of India, it still retains a charm that is totally Indian. Founded in 1537 by a local Chieftain Kempe Gowda, Bangalore has changed dramatically over the years.

There are numerous 'not-to-be-missed' sights in Bangalore like the magnificent Vidhana Soudha, sprawling Cubbon Park. Colourful Lalbagh etc. - and the convenient an exciting way to explore these sights is to take the KSTDC conducted Bangalore Sight-seeing tour.

Founded by KEMPE GOWDA more than 400 years ago, Bangalore is special in every respect - a Salubrious Climate, Beautiful parks, Avenues, Old and New Buildings, Museum, Theatre, above all the Cultured People - a standing testimony for Secular INDIA.

An air-conditioned city, a garden city, the Silicon Valley of India, the fastest developing city in the world, these are some of the attributes used to describe this beautiful city which has a lot to offer you.

A dynamic Happening city, with innumerable cultural events organized every evening, you can choose from a Hindustan vocal concert, of a Carnatic Veena recital, or fusion music to pure western classical music, a play, or an exhibition of a famous painter.

You can get a taste of Bangalore. But the connoisseur can take his pick from any of the multicuisine restaurants of the city, Bangalore is also known as the city of Golf Courses.

Bangalore has a population of more than 56 lakhs. Besides Kannada, which is the official language of the state, Bangaloreans are also comfortable with English, Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, etc.,

Places of Interests in Bangalore

Vidhana Soudha:
A magnificent building of the Neo-Dravidian style ,houses the State Legislature. It was conceived and executed by Kengal Hanumanthaiah, the former Chief Minister of Karnataka in 1956.

Attara Kacheri (High Court):
"Eighteen offices" is the literal meaning of this very elegant two storied building facing Vidhana far from there is the sprawling Cubbon Park, Vishveshwarajap Museum of Science and Technology and Venkatappa Art Gallery.

Lalbagh Gardens:
This expanse of greenery is one of India's most beautiful botanical gardens. It was laid out by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan in the 18th century, Within the Gardens there is a beautiful lake with a water spread area of 1.5 Sq.Kms dotted with picturesque tiny islands. It is a good picnic spot.

Cubbon Park:
This beautiful park, which spreads over 300 acres in the heart of the city, serves as the lung space of the evergrowing Banglore city. Designed by Lt. General Sir Mark Cubbon, in 1864, is dotted with beautiful statues, flowering trees, fountains and a library its midst.

The Government Museum:
One of the oldest museums in the country, established in 1886, has a unique collection of sculptures, inscriptions, paintings, icons and also some relics from Mohenjodaro.

Visweswaraiah Industrial & Technological Museum:
This museum is tribute to Sir. M. Vishweswaraiah the Architect of modern Karnataka, a must see for students and Science buffs, Which presents the amazing wealth of modern science.

Venkatappa Art Gallery:
The Art Gallery has a permanent display of paintings and sculpture by the renowned artist K.Venkatappa.

Karnataka Folk Museum:
The Karnataka janapada trust manages this museum where many rare masks, artifacts and costumes are displayed. It also boasts of an impressive collection of folk music and videos of folk dances. It is located at Kumara Park West, Sheshadripuram.

Aquarium:
A variety of exotic fishes are the attraction in this diamond shaped Aquarium, which is at the enterance of the Cubbon Park.

Jawahar Bal Bhavan:
A children's theatre, an amusement park and a toy train are the main attractions here. Closed on Mondays and second Tuesdays of the month.

Bull Temple (Dodda Basavanna Temple):
The gigantic image of the celestial bull, Nandi, which stands at 4.57 meters. in height, is a classic example of Dravidian architecture. A yearly festival to celebrate the harvesting of peanuts, (Kallekai parse) is held here during the month of Nov-Dec. which attracts large crowds from all over the state.

Dodda Ganapathi Temple:
A huge monolithic statue of Ganapati, which attracts thousands of devotees every day. One of the oldest temples of Bangalore.

Bugle Rock:
This rock stands as a mute witness to the bygone era of the founder of Bangalore, when it served as the watchtower and incase of any attack, a bugle call from here alerted the inhabitants of the town.

Sri Gavi Gangadareshwara Temple:
A unique phenomenon of this cave temple is the sunlight passes through the horns of the bull to light up the Gavi Ganagadareshwara idol on the day of Makara Sankranthi i.e. January 14th or 15th every year.

Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium:
The sky threatre with a dome of fifteen metres in diameter attracts all the amateur astronomers and the commoners to this Planetarium, founded in 1989 to commemorate the birth centenary of Jawaharlal Nehru, the First Prime Minister of India.

Musical Fountain:
Another attraction opposite the planetarium is the musical fountain and its dancing waters. The Bangalore Palace: Modeled after the Windsor Palace, this beautiful granite palace was built by the Wodeyars, the erstwhile rulers of Mysore.