Taken September 24, 2013 at the Maha- Bodhi Society Temple in Bangalore
There are a whole series of these brightly colored bas-reliefs in recesses in the exterior wall at the Mahabodhi Loka Shanti Buddha Vihara, which is a temple run by the Maha-Bodhi Society. This society was founded by a Sri Lankan monk with the intention of bringing Buddhism back to India. While Buddhism was founded in India, there had been a long period of decline of individuals self-identifying as Buddhists.
Taken September 24, 2013
While parks like Cubbon and Lal Bagh Gardens are more famous, Freedom Park may be the most pristine city block in all of Bangalore. The park sits on what was the grounds of the Bangalore Central Jail. Built in 1866 in the wake of the First Indian War of Independence, the Central Jail was constructed to hold rebels and revolutionaries opposing British rule. The first war didn’t succeed in achieving independence, that didn’t come until 1947. The first war did succeed in changing the ruling power from the British East India Company to the British Empire proper, a distinction without a difference in the eyes of Indians I suspect.
Taken on September 21, 2013 in Nandi Hills.
Tipu’s Lodge, also referred to as Tipu’s Summer Palace, is one of the first things one sees upon entering the old fortification of Nandi Hills. On this particular morning, the hilltop was submerged into clouds, making visibility limited and casting a haze over everything.
Taken September 21, 2013 in Nandi Hills, India.
This garden sits behind a little inn at the top of Nandi Hills. In the background is a town and farmland as seen from the hilltop.
Taken September 21, 2013 in Nandi Hills, India.
Taken September 15, 2013 at the National Military Memorial
This eight-wheeler is on display at Bangalore’s National Military Memorial park. It appears to be an amphibious armored personnel carrier (APC). However, they don’t yet have any signage up to explain what’s what. Looks kind of like a Soviet BTR-60.
Take September 2013 in Bangalore.
This was my first experience inside a Hindu Temple, so I was completely out of my element. Fortunately, it was easy enough to follow the crowd through the procedure. (As opposed to the multi-deity temples where many disparate and complex practices may be being carried out at once.) First, one leaves one’s shoes outside, as one would at a Buddhist temple. One then walks down a corridor toward the bull. When one gets to the front of the bull, one turns to one’s left and circles the bull in a clockwise fashion, passing by a Hindu priest. There is a Hindu priest at both the head and the tail end of the idol. There’s an opportunity to make a monetary offering at both. When one gets back around to the front, the priest puts a tilaka mark on one’s forehead with bright red tikka powder. This is made in the same place one sees Hindu women wearing bindi ornamentation.
Taken September 14, 2013 in Chikpete.
Bright red and out-of-place in Bangalore’s raucous market district, this little chapel catches the eye.
Taken on September 16, 2013.
Some claim Bangalore Palace is modeled off of Windsor Castle, but the official line is that any resemblance is purely coincidental. I don’t think cars are normally allowed to park here, but it was rented out for a wedding– which my wife and I kinda / sorta crashed. I’m not sure if the wedding was over, or if they were in the intermission stage. (I’m told that the only thing longer and more mind-numbing than a Catholic wedding is an Indian wedding. Having experience attending the former, I can only imagine the latter.)
While impressive from the outside, the palace is not a very highly rated attraction. In part this may be because it’s quite expensive by Indian standards (when you’re not crashing a wedding.) In part it this may be because the outlying grounds are not particularly attractive. I can’t well speak to the innards of the castle.
Supposedly, construction was begun in 1862 and was not fully completed until 1944. I’m sure the US Civil War to World War II time-frame is purely coincidental. It was built by the Principal of Central High School, Reverend Garrett, and once owned by the Maharaja of Mysore.
Taken September 14, 2013 in Bangalore
Bangalore hasn’t learned to do tourism. Perhaps this shouldn’t be a surprise as the city’s population has doubled from five million to almost ten million in the last dozen years. So, Bangalore’s government has a lot on its plate. However, because of this deficiency, the city is largely seen as a jumping off point for people wanting to go to places like Mysore, Hampi, or Kerala that are not so well-endowed of international flights but which are vastly more scenic.
I mention this because some of the most impressive sights in Bangalore are not very photogenic. First and foremost among these is the palatial Vidhana Soudha, which is the seat of the Karnataka State Legislature. It’s perfectly reasonable that it be closed to the public as serious work is done there, but it’s a little surprising not to be able to get a decent picture of it because of the ugly chainlink fence that surrounds much of it and dense clusters of trees that surround other parts of it. They are doing some work on the High Court side, so maybe they aim to throw tourists the bone of a little more picturesque view.
This isn’t the only bit of tourism unfriendliness. At Bangalore Fort we had a security guard attempt to extort money from us–and I’ve experienced similar things at smaller city parks with random cops. At least I think that’s what the guard was doing; there was neither signage to indicate we needed to pay a fee nor a ticket office. It may have just been that they didn’t put up the right signage. At any rate, we left without any pictures but without paying, and so one way or another this was just bad tourism. Many people probably don’t even know about the little section of fort that remains, but it is easily combined with a trip to the Tipu Sultan’s Palace and the City Market.
While Bangalore doesn’t have a lot of sights for a city of its size (because it hasn’t been a city on this scale for long–compared to places like Delhi, Mumbai, or Kolkata), it could do a lot better to build its tourism revenue, and doesn’t have the history. It’s not quite like Belize City, where the general advice is, “Yeah, you have to fly in there, but get the hell out as soon as you can.” However, it’s not a pleasant place to sight-see either.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 