This is where it all began

This is one of the oldest roads in Bangalore and it dates back to the time Bangalore was founded by Kempe Gowda. This means that the road was formed sometime in 1537 which is when Kempe Gowda is believed to have founded Bangalore.

The road is also the place from where Kempe Gowda harnessed four bullock to four carts and sent them in each of the four directions. Kempe Gowda constructed towers at the four places where the bullock stopped.

The place where the journey of the bullocks began is also part of the road, but Bangaloreans seem to have forgotten this romantic slice of their urban history.

The road was also the place which divided the erstwhile Peta or Pettah into different localities and each locality was populated by a different trading community. Thus we had bangle sellers concentrating in Balepet, rice sellers and commodity sellers in Akkipet and other communities occupying different areas which radiated from this road such as Chickpet (small market), Nagarthpet which houses craftsmen, Tharagupet which mainly dealt in grains, Sunkalpet (limestone sellers’ market), Kumbarpet (potters’ market), Gollarpet (cowherds’ market).

During the Adil Shah period when Bangalore was under Muslim rule from 1638 to 1687, Shahaji had his beautiful palace at Chickpet, which is just off this road. His two sons from Jijabai-Sambhaji and Shivaji and his son from Tulabai Mohite-Ekoji all lived and played in the vicinity and honed their skills in guerilla warfare and statecraft here.

A large number of Marathi speaking people migrated to Bangalore and occupied high positions under Shahaji who was the Governor of  Bangalore province. These people settled in Pettahs around this road and they were instrumental in pushing back Kannada and making Marathi the main language of Bangalore and also the administrative and political language of the province.  

After the Mughals conquered Bangalore in 1678, they too made this road an important thoroughfare and the Mughal Commander Kasim Khan or Quasim Khan occupied Shahaji’s palace in Chickpet. The Pettah area soon the birth of a new language and this was a mixture of Marathi, Urdu and a little of Hindustani. This new language came to be called Rektha and it rapidly spread to north India, particularly in Mughal Delhi and Nawabi Lucknow.

Once the Mughals sold Bangalore to the Wodeyars, the road was repeopled by Kannadigas and the old fort of Kempe Gowda repaired.

When Bangalore passed into the hands of Hyder Ali (1721-1783) and Tipu Sultan (1750-1799) sometime in 1758, the road once again became an important throughfare and two of  the many gates of the fort opened onto the road-Yelahanka gate and Ulsoor or Halasoor Gate .

The vast open space adjacent to the road also saw the British camp there during the third Anglo-Mysore War and finally overcome the forces of  Tipu Sultan. The area commenced from what is today Ulsoor Gate police station-Corporation and extended upto State Bank of Mysore or SBM or Mysore Bank Circle.

After the fall of Tipu in 1799, the road was once again part of Wodeyar Kingdom. It slowly began taking the shape of what it is today and by the turn of the 20^th century, it looked almost as it is today.

This is Avenue Road, which once led directly from the fort towards the Sampangiramanagar tank. One of the intersections of the road is Doddapet Circle and this is believed to be the exact spot where Kempe Gowda harnessed four bullocks and sent them on the way so that he could subsequently demarcate Bangalore’s boundaries.

A little away from Doddapet circle and in preset day Chickpet was the palace of Shahaji. Unfortunately, the building did not survive and we have only Maratha and Adil Shah accounts of Shahaji and his family living in the palace.

Hyder Ali is believed to have camped here in the vicinity around 1758 and forced the Marathas to retreat from Bangalore. The Marathas too camped here when they took Bangalore from the reigning Wodeyars of Mysore under whom Hyder was a mere commander.

One of the heroes of the Indian War of Independence, Tatiya Tope, took shelter in the Kashi Visvesvara temple which is at the junction of Chickpet and Balepet. The Venkateshwara temple was built by Chikadevaraja Wodeyar more than 300 years ago. This is the only temple in Bangalore to display the names of people who helped build the structure and endowed it.
The Anjaneya temple at SBM Circle and Ganapathy temple, which is of recent origin, are important landmarks.  

However, today not much of  the past remains on the road. Though it is named Avenue road, there were hardly any avenue trees and it is a mystery why this road was so named.

The road today is a buyer’s delight offering everything from stationary to books, card board boxes to old and antique items, craft materials, jewellery, textiles, plastic goods, silk sarees, sweets, electronic goods and many other commodities at wholesale rates.                      

Avenue Road stretches from Mysore Bank Circle to City Market and the narrow road is clogged with street vendors, hawkers, push carts sellers and whole sale and retail dealers.

All the pettahs were linked to Doddapete road or avenue road which is more than a kilometer on length. The meandering road measures 4.8 metres to 7.5 metres.

Another landmark on the road is the Rice Memorial church. It was built in 1852 as a memorial to Rev Benjamin Holt Rice (1814-1887), who came to India as a missionary. His son, B.L. Rice is known for his magnum opus, Epigraphia Carnatica and the Mysore Gazetteer.

Avenue road is today among the busiest roads of Bangalore. If students and academicians frequent it for second hand and rare books, old timers throng the area to shop in their favourite shops, while women in thousands frequent the busy lanes and bylanes around Avenue Road looking for gold and ornaments.

There are scores of shops and establishments which are decades old and they sell a range of products. A stroll down the road is nothing but a walk down memory lane.  

Temples in a palace compound

This is one of the oldest temples of Mysore and it is much older that the Amba Vilas Palace or even the Wodeyars. The original structure of the temple dates back to the ninth century.

This is also believed to be the place where a sage did penance. When Shiva appeared before the sage, he consecrated the deity here.

When the temple was built, there was a lake besides it. There is no water body now.      

Moreover, this is one of the 12 temples within the compound of the Amba Vilas Palace in Mysore. This is the Shiva temple and the deity is also called as Vedamurthy as he is considered the lord of the four Vedas-Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana.

This is the Trinayaneswara Temple in the Mysore Palace. It was here that sage Trinabindu meditated. Pleased with hid devotion, Shiva appeared before him en on the shore of a lake). Impressed by this Shiva appeared before the sage who then consecrated the Linga which is known as Trinayaneswara or Vedamurthy.

Trinayaneswara also means the one with three eyes and Shiva has a third eye on his forehead.

Several centuries ago, this temple was on the banks of the Devaraya Sagara or Doddakere lake. The Kere disappeared and the fort was expanded bringing the temple within the fort premises during the rule of Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar and Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar.

(The Doddekere was drained due to the royal family expressing concerns over water borne diseases emanating from mosquitoes and insects that frequented the water body).

Subsequently, the Trinayaneswara temple was renovated and  additional structures built. A big tower in front of the temple was destroyed in 18th century. However, the base of the tower is still visible at the entrance.

The temple is also unique in the sense that it has images of  many Wodeyar Kings praying. This is called Anjalimudra.

There are images of Dakshinamurthy-Shiva as a teacher of universal knowledge, Kshetrapala-the lord of the land, Kumara- the God of war and Surya-the god of light. These are believed to have been consecrated by Ranadheera Kantirava or Kantirava Narasaraja Wodeyar, the wrestler King of Mysore.

The last Wodeyar Emperor, Jayachamarajendra, donated in 1951 a 11kg ceremonial gold mask to Vedamurthy. This mask is called Swarna Kolaga or Chinnada Kolaga and it is kept in the Treasury.

During Shivaratri, the mask is brought to the temple and the deity adorned with it.

Built in the Vijaynagar style, this huge temple contains several shrines and two exquisite glass paintings in traditional Mysore style

By the way, the palace complex includes twelve Hindu temples and if you leave out the Vedamurthy temple, the oldest of the other temples was built in the 14th century, while the most recent was built by Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar in 1953. This is the Gayatri temple.

Another temple dedicated to Shiva in the palace complex is Someshvara. The Linga here is believed to be old. The other deities in this temple were consecrated by Maharani Vanivilasa Sannidhana over a century ago.

The Lakshmiramana Temple  is dedicated to Vishnu, Shwetha Varahaswamy Temple to Lord Varahaswamy.

The Kote Anjenaya temple is famous as is the Kote Ganapathy temple. The Mariamma temple is supposed  to ward off diseases.

The Lakshmiramana temple is popular as it is believed that the prayers made here are always answered. It was built by Narasa Nayaka, the Emperor of Vikayanagar and father of Krishnadevaraya, in 1499. It was renovated in 1851. The temple was also witness to several religious ceremonies conducted on the eve of  the coronation of Krishnaraja Wodeyar on June 30, 1799 after the death of Tipu on May 4, 1799 in Srirangapatna.

The Prasanna Krishnaswamy Temple was built by Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the third, in 1829. The Krishna here is in ambegalu pose and he holds butter in his hands. This idol is modeled on the idol of Krishna in the Apremaya Swamy Temple in Malur near Chennapatna.   

The Kodi Bhairava, to the north east of the palace compound is supposed to be the oldest of the temples. This temple is an important landmark for the Wodeyars as the founder of the Mysore royal family, Yaduraya, prayed here before successfully overcoming a Karugadahalli Chieftain.
The Kodi Someshwara temple dates back to the thirteenth century and is built in the Chola style. The Kille Venkataramana Swamy temple is another landmark. The idol was brought by Queen Lakshmammani, the adoptive mother of Krishnaraja Wadiyar III, from Balamuri. There is an interesting legend behind the temple. The Queen was worried about the fate of the Wodeyar dynasty as she was unsure about the intentions of Tipu who was not very friendly towards the  Mysore rulers. She prayed for the well-being of her family and one night she had a dream in which she was asked to get the image of  Venkataramana from Balamuri. She was told that once she installed the image, no harm would come to the Wodeyar family.  
The complex also contains two twin temples in the Hoysala style,  built by Dewan Purnaiah in 1809. He used materials from ruined Hoysala temples in Shimoga.
The deity of Swetha Varahaswamy was first consecrated at a temple at Srirangapatna by Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar (1672-1704). Tipu destroyed the temple and it was shifted to Mysore in 1809. There are images of Srivaishnava seers in the temple which were presented by Krishnaraja Wodeyar III in 1829.
There are several inscriptions in the temple belonging to different periods. The southern wall of the shrine of the goddess has one such inscription that belongs to the early 13th century.  
The tower and pillars are intricately carvings. The inner walls of Navaranga display murals narrating stories of Krishna from the Bhagavad Gita. One such mural of Rama Pattabhisheka can be found on the south eastern wall of Navaranga.

A timeline of Bangalore

Bangalore is not an ancient metropolis when compared to cities like Delhi, Varanasi or even Kolkata. Unfortunately, we do not know the early origins of Bangalore.

However, the  name of Bangalooru is associated with  the Hoysalas. The Hoysalas were a Hindu kingdom who ruled over large parts of south Karnataka. Their capital was Dwarasamudra in Hassan district and Bangalore was part of their kingdom.

Once, the Hoysala Emperor Vira Ballala, was out hunting in 1120 AD. He got lost in the forests near Bangalore and when he reached a small hamlet, hungry and tired, he was fed boiled beans. A grateful emperor called it the land of Benda Kallu Uru (The land of boiled beans).

Whether this story is true or not, one thing is for sure and that it the name Bangalooru existed even then. The name was found etched on a 9th century inscription in a temple in Begur, Bangalore.
The inscription can be seen even today at the Naganatheswara Temple which is near the Central Silk Board Junction in Madivala.

The temple is believed to 1000 years old. There is a reference in one of the inscriptions to the battle of Bangalooru. Is it not ironical that hundreds of years after the original name was changed to Bangalore, the name is now changed back to the original.

By the way, the Naganatheswara Temple has many carvings and it is situated near the remnants of an old fort.

Well, coming back to Bangalore: The city as it is today owes its existence to Kempe Gowda. A ruler from Magadi, Kempe Gowda, realised the importance of Bangalore  and at Doddapet Circle he harnessed four carts with bullocks and asked them to travel. He marked the points where these bullocks stopped and thus began the journey of Bangalore.

The Doddapet Circle exists today and its importance in the founding of Bangalore seems forgotten in the hustle and bustle of daily life. Kempe Gowda built a mud fort in 1537 in K R Market and set up petes or small towns around it. He was helped in this endeavour by the Vijayanagar Emperor Achuta Deve Raya.

The Vijayanagar permission to set up petes was mandatory as Kempe Gowda was a nayaka in service of the Vijayanagars. Before he shifted his capital to Bangalore, it was Yelehanka that was the capital.

Kempe Gowda decided to limit Bangalore's expansion by erecting four  watch towers. These Watch towers still exist and are known as the Kempe Gowda Towers. One of them is at Lalbagh, the second at Ramana park in Mekhri Circle, the third near  Ulsoor lake and the fourth at Kempambudhi tank.
In 1638, the Adil Shah army led by Ranadulla Khan and  Shahaji Bhonsle captured Bengalooru fort from  Kempe Gowda 2. Kempe Gowda 2 was compelled to give up Bangalooru and retreat to Magadi, from where he and his descendents ruled as palegars from Magadi. In 1728, Magadi was conquered by Wodeyars, thus ending the rule of Bangalore by Kempe Gowdas.

In 1638 AD, Ibrahim Adil Shah gifted Bangalore to Shahaji Bhonsle. In 1689, the Mughals captured Bangalore from the Marathas and sold it to Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar of Mysore for 3 lakh pagodas (gold coins). In 1759, Hyder Ali, commander of Mysore's army, received Bangalore as a Jagir from Krishnaraja Wodeyar II. Later Hyder Ali declared himself ruler of Mysore Kingdom after Krishnaraja Wodeyar 2 died. Hyder and Tipu lorded over Bangalore till 1799. The Wodeyars got back Bangalore around 1800.

It was with the advent of Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan that Bangalore began rapidly developing. It was in the wars with the British in Bangalore in 1791 and again in 1799 that rockets were used for the first time by Tipu.

Both Hyder and Tipu laid the foundations of  Lalbagh. Both strengthened the mud fort of Kempe Gowda, Tipu set up a factory to manufacture rockets at Taramandelpet. The rockets were tested here and, hence, the name tara (stars). He also built several armouries to store them and only one-behind the Bangalore Medical College-survives.

During its heydays, the Bangalore fort was an important military landmark. It had eight main gates and all these gates were initially built by Kempe Gowda.

The gates were   

Yelahanka Gate which was located at Mysore Bank Circle at the junction of Kempe Gowda Road, Post Office Road and Avenue Road.
Yeshwantpur Gate near Upparapet police station which is in front of the Subashnagar busstand
Kengiri Gate whish is now a police station in Cottonpet
Halasoor or Ulsoor Gate where a police station is named after it and is in front of the BBMP head office
Kanakanahalli Gate which was located near the Vokkaligara Sangha building housing KIMS hospital on KR Road
There were two other smaller gates called Sonde Koppa gate Anekal gate.
The Delhi Gate which is in the rort in K.R Market was rebuilt in stone by Hyder Ali. The fort was a large one and some o the localities housed within it were Balepet where bangles were sold, Aralepet or Cottonpet which even in those days were a major centre for trading in cotton, Chickpet or smaller town, Doddapet or big town, Avenue Road, Upparapet, Mandipet where commodities were traded wholesale, Sultanpet, Taramandelpet and other petes.
The petes have retained their names and almost all of them have become busy commercial and business centres. These petes have some of the oldest temples and mosques and take time off to check them out.
The Wodeyars came under the protection of the British after 1799 and the British built a cantonment in Bangalore and appointed a Resident to protect British interest in the Mysore Kingdom. The first British Resident was Col.Sir Barry Close.

The house and office of the Resident was shifted from Mysore to Bangalore in 1804 and even today the building exists as the headquarters of the State Bank of India on St Marks Road. The British coat of arms can still be seen in the building.

The road on which the Resident travelled came to be known as Residency Road. Though this road was renamed as Field Marshal Cariapa Road, nobody known it by that name. It is still Residency Road.

The Resident’s office was later shifted in 1881 to a building now called Raj Bhavan. This building was constructed  in 1840s and once belonged to Sir Mark Cubbon, who was Commissioner of Bangalore.

Cubbon was fond of Arabian horses and he kept at least fifty horses in his stables. The stables were in the premises of the office of the Commissioner of Police. Lewin Benthem Bowring who succeeded Cubbon as Commissioner purchased the bungalow in 1862  to be used as the official Commissioner's bungalow.

Cantonment, which is one of the best areas of Bangalore, came up in 1806. This was ruled directly by the British while Bangalore and its petes belonged to  the Wodeyars.

The then cantonment area consisted of Shoolay, Blackpally (now Shivajinagar), The Parade areas (M.G Road, Cubbon Road), St. John's Hill, Fraser Town, Benson Town, Cleveland Town, Cox Town, Richard's Town, Ulsoor, Knoxpet (Murphy Town), Agram, Richmond Town, Langford Town, Austin Town (named after British Resident, Sir James Austin Bourdillon) and  Whitefield (Anglo-Indian Colony created in 1882).

In 1892, new areas came to be added to Bangalore. Thus, Chamarajpet  (named after Chamarajendra Wodeyar) and Seshadripuram (named after the then  Diwan of Mysore Sir K. Sheshadri Iyer) came up. Kumara Park came up in 1947 and Jayanagar in 1948.

In 1898, a plague broke out in Bangalore and two new areas came up- Basavanagudi and Malleswaram. The Victoria Hospital was built in 1901 and Vani Vilas Hospital in 1902.

In 1905, Bangalore became the first city in India to get electrical power.

The LIC building on Residency Road, adjacent to Devatha Plaza, once housed the Reserve Bank of India. The present canteen of LIC was once the strong room of the bank before it was shifted to Nruputunga Road.

Today, Bangalore is one of the biggest cities in India and it is the IT capital. There are hundreds of IT companies. Once known for manufacturing industries, Bangalore today has a range of industries. Many of the giant public sector industries such as HMT, ITI, BHEL, BEL, BEML, HAL had made Bangalore their base. Many of these companies have downsized their staff and diversified.     
Bangalore today has many places of interest. Here is a list of some of them.

Aerospace Museum:

This is the only museum of its kind in India. It is located on the Old Airport road. So I suggest that you take this museum with a visit to MG Road, Brigade Road, Ulsoor Lake and Someshwara Temple.

The museum traces the history of aviation of India and also the growth of HAL-Hindustan Aeronautics Limtted.

Freedom Park:

This was once the famous Bangalore Central Jail before it was shifted to Parappana Agrahara on Hosur Road near Electronics City.

The jail has been converted into a park and it is also a place designated for holding protests. The landscaping of the area leaves you awestruck. Some of the buildings within the jail have been retained.

It is on Seshadri Road and near Majestic. The Race Course is opposite this jail. So is the Bangalore Weather Office.   
Cubbon Park: It was named after Sir Mark Cubbon, who was the British Commissioner of Mysore Kingdom from 1834 to 1861. Ironically, he had never set his eyes on the park but yes he had seen and liked Lalbagh.

He left India in April 1861 and died on his way back home at Suez on April 23, 1861. Cubbon Park was planned in 1864 by Sir Richard Sankey, the then Chief Engineer of Mysore. When planned, it was known as Meades Park after John Meade, the then acting Commissioner of Mysore. Subsequently it was named as Cubbpn Park. In 1972, it was again renamed as Chamarajendra Park. Noboy calls it by that name and it continues to be  came to be known as Cubbon Park.
Lalbagh: The biggest botanical garden in the south. It is home to many rare species of plants, shrubs and trees. A botanist’s delight, it has several varieties of bamboo trees, roses, orchids, bonsai and ferns. It has the oldest rock formation in the world and also a fossil of a tree trunk.

There is a mango tree planted by Tipu Sultan. The flower clock and Glass House is a pleasure to the eyes as is the lake.     
Indira Gandhi Fountain:

Located near the Jawaharlal Nahru Planetarium, it is one of the biggest fountains of its kind. Visit it in the evening and watch the play of waters. Vidhana Soudha, High Court, Vikasa Soudha and roads such as MG Road, Church Street, St Marks Road are nearby. The war memorial is adjacent. 

Planetarium: The Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium is a student’s delight. The centre organizes astronomy and science classes. Watch the sky and the stars.

Bangalore Fort:

Originally built in mud by Kempe Gowda and later renovated with stones. The British occupied the fort during the last Anglo-Mysore war But by then, Tipu had already dismantled large portions of the fort and what is left today is only a small part of the once massive structure. There is a small temple and a dungeon in the fort. It is located in City Market, one of the busiest places of Bangalore and a centre of wholesale trade in many commodities.

Tipu palace:

It is just across the fort. It was once the palace of Tipu Sultan. It is a wooden structure and after Tipu was defeated it was used by the British as their offices.

Near the  palace is the armoury of Tipu, the Kote Anjeneya Temple and Minto Kannaaspatre Anjeneya Temple consecrated by Vyasa Raja. One of  Bangalore’s oldest Raghavendra Swamy Temple is situated down the palace in an area called Seethapathi Agrahara. (This is diagonally opposite Prakash café on Chamarajpet 1st Main Road).

Take a tour of the Bangalore Museum. Visveshveshvaraiah Science and Technological Museum, acquarium and the Venkatappa Art Gallery while visiting Cubbon Park.

If you find time and you are interested in history, go around the many churches in Bangalore such as St. Marks Cathedral where the cricketer Colin Cowdrey of England was baptized, St. Andrews Church, St. Patricks Church, Trinity Church, St Luke’s Church and St. John’s Church.

Bangalore offers you temples dedicated to all deities. The biggest temple complex is ISCKON in Rajajinagar. The Hanuman Temple in Mahalakshmi Layout opposite ISCKON is worth a visit. The huge Hanuman statue is awesome.

The oldest temple is in Domlur. It is dedicated to Vishnu and is called the Chokkanatha Temple. It is believed to have been built by Raja Raja Chola. I have a;lready written about the Naganatheswara Temple.

Other temples worth a visit are the Gavi Gangadheswara temple, Bull Temple in Basavanagudi, Someshwara Temple in Ulsoor, Kumaraswamy Temple in Hanumanthnagar, Dharmaraja Temple, Kadu Malleswara temple, the temples at Ragigudda in Jayanagar, Cave Temple in Hulimavu and Meenakshi Temple on Bannerghatta Road, Raja Rajeshwari Temple in Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Gali Anjeneye Temple on Mysore road.

If you are a devotee of  Raghavendra Swamy, you can visit scores of Raghavendra Samy temples and almost all localities have one or two temples to this saint from Mantralaya.

Bangalore has also many mosques.

The Sangeen Jamia Masjid in Taramandalpet is the oldest mosque in Bangalore and the only monument left behind by the Mughals. It was built by the then Mughal Commander Khiledar Khan

The Jumma Masjid mosque in City Market is the biggest and the masjid on Jumma Masjid road in Shivajinagar perpendicular to Commercial Street has granite pillars which once adorned the palace of Tipu in Srirangapatna.

The pillars are cool even during the summer. Go shopping at Commercial Street and taste the sweets of Baghat Ram. Ulsoor lake is nearby and enjoy a boat ride.

Apart from the Ulsoor lake, there are other water bodies in Bangalore. Madivala lake, Agara lake, Sankey lake, Hulimavy lake, Hebbal and Yediyur lake. These lakes and Cubbon Park and Lalbagh are home to many birds.

The Bangalore Palace in Vasanthnagar belongs to the Royal family of Wodeyars. You can see it for a fee. You can either take a guide, see it on your own or go for a digital guide. The ballroom of the palace is a beautiful reminder of the days gone by.

Bannerghatta National Park is near Bangalore and you can enjoy a safari along with a visit to the Butterfly park.

If you are a foodie, taste the MTR savories in  their hotel near Lalbagh or go for the crips dosa and chutney in Vidyarthi Bhavan in Gandhi Bazar. Eat cakes and pastries at Butter Sponge located in front of the National College. It is on the other side of the flyover opposite Uttaradhi Matha Road.

MTR has set up another outlet opposite Mini forest in JP Nagar. Try out the lunch and dinner, Maiyas in Jayanagar 4th Block is another famous eatery. While in Malleswaram, go for Halli Mane for authentic home food and for old world charm check out Janata Hotel and Bun world.

In the pete area, the Old Krishna Bhavan and Venkateshwara Sweet Meat stall is famous. Try out idlis at Janadhana Hotel in Seshadripuram and at Chalukya Hotel near Basaveshwar Circle, opposite Race Course.

If you are the homely type, eate at Brahmins café in Shankarapuram. This is near the Bangalore Hugh School. In Basavanagudi, order Brahmin foods like Kodubale, Chalki and condiments at Subbamma stores near DVG Road. Kannadigas call it Subbammana Angadi.

If you like Dosas fesh from the Tava or pan, eat at the many small outlet in VV Puram and try bread and confectionaries at VB Bakery. If in Rajajinagar eat at Warriar bakery. Treu Taste is an outlet belonging to ISKCON. Eat at their headquarters in Rajajinagar or in Jayanagar 4th Block.

The Nandini milk booths stock ice creams and a large variety of sweets under the brand Nandini. There are chocolates under the Nandini brand too. Try them out.

If you are a shopping addict, there are many malls here. The best among them are Orion, UB City, Mantri, Shoppers Stop, Forum, Big Bazar. Shop on Brigade Road, MG Road, Kempe Gowda Road, Church Street Commercial Street and roads in Malleswaram.

The Cauvery Handicrafts showroom on MG Road and several smaller outlets in Jayanagar, Kempe Gowda Road and other places will tempt you to buy artifacts from Karnataka. Since this is a Government owned undertaking, prices are fixed and quality is maintained. If you have money buy a teakwood dining set or a rosewood joola or a rosewood mantapa. I can assure you they are worth every rupee.

Go around the streets of Basavanagudi, Chamarajpet, Shankarapuram  and Malleswaram to get a taste of old Bangalore. There are scores of pubs in Bangalore and cinema houses. Clubs such as Bangalore Club, KSCA Club, Billiards Club (housed in the State Billiards Building on Millers Tank Road), Sadashivanagar Club, Jayanagar Club, Cosmopolitan Club, Century Club, YMCA offer a variety of activities. Bowring Club had members like Winston Churchill.

If you are interested in dance, the best option would be to go to Hesarghata and see the dance village constructed by Protima Bedi. Hesarghata has a farm, reservoir and several temples. The TG Halli reservoir is another spot where you can spend time.

Make Bangalore your base to see several places in and around the city. Hotels are available from reasonable to high rates. Transport is not a problem but leave early to avoid the office crowd. The metro is operational on only one route. Take a ride to enjoy the first metro in south India.