At the end of 2018, I decided to take a short break to a nearby city so that I could return refreshed to a busy work year in 2019. The city I chose to visit was Bangalore, the city of gardens. While I expected more green in the city, I think with the city becoming the IT hub of the country, its greenery has drastically reduced to a few parks – Cubbon park, Lalbagh etc.

The following six were my favourites from the four days I spent in the city:

(1) Dodda Ganapathi and Dodda Basavanagudi

Having read that Basavanagudi was a special place for the writer, R.K. Narayan, I searched for places to visit in this neighbourhood and came across these two temples. Both are centuries old temples and are very peaceful places to visit.

Dodda Ganapathi temple is the first temple that you will enter, when you enter the complex that houses both temples.

For those wishing to do an ‘archanai’ (individual blessing), one can get a 10 rupee ticket from the counter and give to the priest, who will then invoke the blessing and give you a flower or a little packet of pink sugar candy.

When you exit the temple, to your left, there is a staircase that leads up to Dodda Basavanagudi temple (or, the Nandi temple), which has a huge stone image of Nandi.

Dodda Basavanagudi

(2) Vidyarthi Bhavan
After visiting the two temples, I decided to have some coffee and snack at Vidyarthi Bhavan, a vegetarian eatery that was started in 1943 as a student canteen. There were lots of people waiting outside the eatery and I asked a group of youth whether they were waiting to go into Vidyarthi Bhavan. They replied that they were waiting to go in and said that I should first go and give my name to the man at the door.

The coordination between the man at the door and the waiters was interesting to watch. They were well in sync with each other that they packed each table to its full and sent in the exact number of people as the number leaving the eatery.

In my case, I did not have to wait as luckily, a table of four cleared and the next group on the list was a family of three and the eatery had a policy of having full tables so I was sent into make the fourth at the table. It was initially a bit awkward for me as I felt I was intruding at someone else’s table. However, the others seemed fine.

When the waiter took my order after taking theirs, both the family and the waiter recommended that I try out the eatery’s specialty dosa. I went for the lighter semolina snack and the family invited me to taste what they had ordered as well.

I would strongly recommend the visitor to Bangalore to go to Vidyarthi Bhavan, for the food, the atmosphere and the unexpected conversations with strangers at your table.

(3) Chitrakala Parishath

Having read that there was an interesting art complex, I decided to visit Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath one morning. The galleries at the museum was interesting, with a mix of traditional Mysore art and artwork by other Indians and foreign artists in India. I really enjoyed seeing some of Rabindranath Tagore’s modern art on the walls, especially as I had not known that the poet laureate was also . The work of his nephews was also interesting and I especially liked Gaganendranath Tagore’s satirical caricatures.

Next to the museum building, there was a lovely art and craft bazaar that week, with artists from different regions of India exhibiting their artwork and handcrafted products.

(4) St. Mark’s Cathedral

I visited the cathedral, built between 1808 – 1812, on boxing day and it was lovely, with only a few families preparing for the church service.

(5) Blossom Book House

I would recommend visiting one of the numerous bookstores in the city, but of special note is the Blossom book house, a store selling both second hand and new books. While I had meant to just get one book for holiday reading at the Church Street store, I ended up buying quite a few. There are lots of restaurants and cafes on this street so shoppers can have a drink or something to eat in between their shopping.

(6) The Oberoi Bengaluru

The best part of my holiday in Bangalore was the stay at The Oberoi Bengaluru. I had decided to pamper myself at the end of the year with a stay at this luxury hotel and I was indeed spoilt by the staff.

The service is the best I have come across among all the places I have stayed at to-date and it was lovely to see that there was a team spirit among the staff and that no matter what you asked for, a staff member would attempt to respond or get another staff member who could respond to your query. Little touches like a Christmas stocking with treats on the day I checked in and a thank you note with a souvenir, when I checked out were particularly lovely.

View from the balcony

The room was very comfortable and the view of the century old tree from the balcony was really relaxing that I did end up staying indoors more than exploring the busy, dusty city outside.

Have you visited Bangalore (Bengaluru)? What was your favourite from your visit or what would you enjoy trying from my highlights?