Know your city
The city name we all know as Bangalore is the anglicised version of the city's name in the local language (Kannada), 'Bengaluru'. The earliest reference to the name "Bengalooru" was found in a 9th-century Ganga Dynasty stone inscription on a "veera kallu" (literally, "hero stone", a rock edict extolling the virtues of a warrior). In this inscription "Bengaluru" is referred to as a place in which a battle was fought in 890 AD. It states that the place was part of the Ganga kingdom until 1004 AD and was known as "Bengaval-uru", the "City of Guards" in Old Kannada. On November 1, 2006, the State Government accepted a resolution to rename Bangalore to its native name, Bengaluru.
Today whenever Bangalore is mentioned it seems to be in association with leading India's amazing economic growth through Information Technology based companies such as business process outsourcing (BPO's) and call centres. Bangalore is a major driver of the Indian economy, constantly vying with Kolkata (previously Calcutta) for the title of third largest city, and the economic success has brought about much needed improvements in facilities and entertainment available so there are many things to recommend the city as a destination for your gap year break.
There is a fusion of east meeting west due to the large number of students and graduates from all over India along with ex-pats working with multi-national companies. This has led to a change in the usual Indian culture with a proliferation of pubs, clubs and entertainment sometimes more in keeping with England than India. The state government does keep limiting these attempts to push the boundaries by enforcing closing times of midnight on all the clubs and bars in the city but hopefully they will become more lenient over time, though this does not seem to deter gap year travellers from having a wonderful time.
Bangalore has the largest number of international artists coming to play in the country with recent concerts being held by Iron Maiden, Roger Waters, The Rolling Stones and Bryan Adams. The beauty of concerts here are the numbers are kept to 15,000 maximum so you can still have the feeling of an intimate concert rather than the usual stadium concerts we are now used to in the west.
Finally we must mention the climate here. As the city is based on the Mysore Plateau at an altitude of 920 metres it has a great climate year round. It does not get the harsh high temperatures of the rest of the country nor the humidity of the tropical south and in the winter can get quite chilly with day time temperatures of 15 degrees but with lots of sunshine and beautiful blue skies every day.
History of the city
The archives mention a village on the site of present day Bangalore as far back as 900AD and it increased in importance due to its strategic positioning on the Mysore Plateau.
In 1687, the Mughal general Kasim Khan sold Bangalore to Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar of Mysore for 300,000 rupees, approximately £25,000, needless to say its worth a little more today! In 1759, Hyder Ali, Commander-in-Chief of the Mysore Army, proclaimed himself the de facto ruler of Mysore and the kingdom later passed to Hyder Ali's son Tippu Sultan, known as the Tiger of Mysore.
Bangalore was eventually incorporated into the British East Indian Empire after Tippu Sultan was defeated and killed in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799). The British then returned administrative control of the Bangalore district to the Maharaja of Mysore.
Business in the city
In the 1940s industrial visionaries such as Sir Mirza Ismail and Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya played an important role in the development of Bangalore's strong manufacturing and industrial base. In the decades that followed, Bangalore's manufacturing base continued to expand with the establishment of private companies setting up manufacturing plant in the city. In 1985, Texas Instruments became the first multinational to set up base in Bangalore. Other Information Technology companies followed suit and by the end of the 20th century, Bangalore had firmly established itself as the Silicon Valley of India.
Today, Bangalore is headquarters to several public manufacturing heavy industries such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, National Aerospace Laboratories, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited, Bharat Earth Movers Limited and Hindustan Machine Tools. In June 1972 the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was established under the Department of Space and headquartered in the city.
The establishment and success of software service firms in Bangalore after the liberalisation of India's economy to allow direct foreign investment has led to the growth of India's information technology industry. Bangalore is referred to as the Silicon Valley of India and contributes 38% of India's Rs. 100,000 crore (£11 billion) turnover. Infosys and Wipro, India's second and third largest software companies are both head quartered in Bangalore along with numerous others. Biotechnology is a rapidly expanding field in the city and accounts for 47% or 127 of the approximately 265 biotechnology companies in India (as at 2006). Biocon, headquartered in Bangalore, is the nation's leading biotechnology company and ranks 16th in the world in revenues (2006).
Bangalore is the third-largest hub for high net worth individuals (HNWI / HNIs), after Mumbai and Delhi, and is home to over 10,000 individual dollar millionaires and around 60,000 super-rich people, you maybe rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous while on your gap break here.
Journey with a purpose
Around Bangalore
Mysore The ancestral home of the Maharaja's of Mysore and current home to the modern day Prince of Mysore, the city can be reached within 2 hours from Bangalore by bus or train. The Palace is an extravagant piece of architecture which has to be seen to be believed!
Mysore also has an extremely well kept zoo which, alongside the usual animals of bears, giraffes and elephants, has 8 tigers - two of them are are white tigers and very beautiful.
A hilltop vantage point gives you an excellent view of the surrounding countryside and a famous temple can be visited here.
Ooty - Ootacumund
Ooty is famous for being the summer administrative capital of the British Empire due to its altitude of 2,400metres meaning temperatures never reaching above 25 degrees. Old colonial buildings survive alongside modern day Indian which threatens to bulldoze these winderful relics of a bygone age. The town centre itself is not so pretty but the scenery around here from the Nilgiris (Blue Hills) is stunning and tea estates with tea pickers dot the hill sides. There are also numerous coffee plantations and tea, coffee and locally made chocolate can be bought here making ideal presents for taking home.
Ooty can be reached by bus and takes around 6 hours from Bangalore via Mysore.
Wildlife Parks - Coorg, Mudulamai
There are numerous wildlife parks in south Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Bangalore is close by to many of them. Tigers, elephants, bear, deer, monkeys - the list goes on. Read up on which specialises in your favorite animals and organise your trip.
Mangalore
On the coast of South Karnataka just before the Kerala border Mangalore is not a very pretty city but just outside the city limits there are beautiful unspoilt beaches with no tourists whatsoever
Hampi & Hubli
Two of the most famous archeological sites in India, these two towns are worth visiting for the quantity and quality of the remains. The Indian goverment is trying its best to preserve these sites but unfortunately due to a lack of resources, both financial and people mean that the work is not being carried out quickly enough or to a suitable standard. Bangalore: Out and About
Both sites can be reached overnight by bus or train.
A little further afield but easily reached are Goa and Cochin in Kerala both great holiday destinations.
Don't be put off thinking that travel will be costly. Trains are amazingly good value especially if you travel overnight as your bed is included. As an example, the fare for an air conditioned coach with a bed and - around a 9 hour journey - would be around 10 pounds.
Many journeys can be done on night bus with full sleeper cabin. A 12 hour night journey would typically cost around £5.
Internal air travel is also very good value with many lost cost airlines now operating in India. Flights can be taken to all locations in Rajasthan, Leh & Ladakh.
India is the most friendly and easy country to travel in, so make sure you take advantage of it during your gap year travels!
Culture and Customs
Entertainment
Bangalore: Entertainment
Bangalore's rich cultural heritage combined with its technological and industrial achievements has made it one of India's most happening cities. It has become a melting pot for many cultures giving it a rich cosmopolitan character. The city offers something for every one - recreation areas, pubs, a varied nightlife, quick getaways, big shopping malls, thriving arts and a great entertainment scene. For some reason Bangalore seems to attract a large number of bands and particularly rock groups to set up and there are often gigs held in pubs and clubs which you don't find in any other city, so you are sure to have enough to do during your spare time while on a gap year here.
Bangalore has many clubs and bars, and is sometimes referred to as the "Pub Capital of India". Popular nightspots in Bangalore include the Fusion Lounge, Athena, Mixx, Nyx, HiNT, Taika, Pecos, Purple Haze, the Tavern Inn and TGIF. As already mentioned there are frequent rock concerts particularly through the winter months of October to March. Aerosmith will be playing mid 2007 and others who have played at the Palace Grounds include Scorpions, Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, Joe Satriani, INXS, No Doubt, Safri Duo, Deep Purple and Mark Knopfler.
There are also multiplex cinemas in the city showing the latest Hollywood films as well as Bollywood (Hindi), Kollywood (Kannada) and Tollywood (Tamil and Telugu)! Going to watch an Indian film is a must but be prepared to suspend reality and enter the theatre with an open mind. Also remember than the films are rarely less than 3 hours long so make sure to allow enough time to see the whole event!
Festivals & Culture
Bangalore: Festivals and Culture Deepavali (Divali), the "Festival of Lights", although a major Hindu festival transcends demographic and religious lines and is celebrated with great vigour by all parts of the community. It seems that every family in the city buys at least one box of fireworks and proceeds to set them off from dawn to midnight on the festival day. Find the highest rooftop after dark with a group of friends and sit back to enjoy the spectacle but we recommend not buying any fireworks of your own as the quality can be a little dubious!
Dussera, a traditional celebratory hallmark of the old Kingdom of Mysore, is another important festival. Other traditional Indian festivals such as Ganesh Chaturthi, Ugadi, Sankranthi, Eid ul-Fitr, and Christmas are also celebrated.
Culturally Bangalore is witnessing the revival of traditional art in the form of dance, drama and art. Almost every aspect of painting, pottery, weaving or theatre has been restored and workshops, seminars and demonstrations are frequent.
Bangalore is home to the Kannada film industry, or Kollywood as it is in known locally, which churns out about 80 Kannada movies each year. Most of these movies are musicals, with much dancing and bright, beautiful clothes and their soundtracks are very popular in the city. The popularity of Kannada movies has spawned a new colloquial dialect, Bangalore Kannada, which draws upon youth culture and influences from English and other Indian languages not unlike hip hop has influenced youth culture in the west.
Bangalore: Food
Food
The diversity of cuisine available is reflective of the social and economic diversity of Bangalore. Everything is available from the roadside stall selling the original fast food (usually deep fried, delicious and no more than 20 pence) to Sushi at a beautiful lounge bar on a roof terrace overlooking the city - considerably more expensive than 20 pence. In fact Bangalore's fancy restaurants dish out everything from Mexican to Polynesian fare with the cool and sunny skyline playing perfect host.
Also available is South Indian food, mainly rice based and vegetarian but delicious as well as the usual Chicken Butter Masala's of North India. Bangalore is home to a number of multi national food outlets such as McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut as well as having a coffee shop on every corner - it really is a cosmopolitan city.
