Bangalore: Silicon Valley of India

Bangalore is the largest science center in India. In addition to the institutes and design bureaus involved in the space program, there is the National Aeronautics Laboratory, the Institute of Indian Sciences, a university, and a large number of colleges. Bannerghatta National Park, created for wildlife conservation, is also an hour’s drive from Bangalore. Here one can find more than a hundred species of birds, as well as monkeys, guar, wild boar, spotted deer and leper bears. Due to its long and rich history, Bangalore remains one of the cultural and scientific centers not only in India, but also the whole South Asia.

History and Main Sightseeing Places

Bangalore, the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka, has a population of over 8 million and about 11 million metropolitan residents, making it the third most populous city and the fifth largest urban agglomeration in India. Bangalore, located in southern India on the Deccan Plateau, at over 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level, is known for its pleasant year-round climate. Its height is the highest among major cities in India (Pani et al. 14). The city’s topography and geography have both benefited the city in becoming a cultural center, being well protected by nature itself.

The history of the city dates back to 890 AD, this is a stone inscription found in the Nageshwara temple in Begur, Bangalore. Begur’s inscription is written in Halegannada (ancient Kannada) and mentions the “Bengalur Kalaga” (Battle of Bangalore). This was an important turning point in the history of Bangalore as it was the first time the name ”Bangalore” was mentioned. In 1537 A.D. Kempe Gowda, the feudal ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire, founded a clay fort that is considered the foundation of modern Bangalore and its oldest districts, or pits, that exist to this day (Pani et al. 37). Soon, the fortification proved to be protective enough, allowing the city to flourish and turn into an administrative and cultural center.

After the fall of the Vijayanagar empire in the 16th century, the Mughals sold Bangalore to Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar (1673–1704), then ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, for three lakh rupees. When Hyder Ali seized control of the Kingdom of Mysore, the administration of Bangalore passed into his hands. It was taken over by the British East India Company after winning the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War of 1799, which returned administrative control of the city to the Maharajah of Mysore (Pani et al. 45). The British invested in the city, and it continued its steady but strong growth and development.

The old city developed in the domain of the Maharaja of Mysore and became the capital of the princely state of Mysore, which existed as a nominally sovereign subject of the British Raj. In 1809 the British moved their city to Bangalore, outside the old city, and a city grew up around it and was administered as part of British India. After Indian independence in 1947, Bangalore became the capital of the state of Mysore and remained the capital when the new Indian state of Karnataka was formed in 1956. The two urban settlements of Bangalore, the city and the collection area, which developed as independent entities, merged into a single entity. In 1949, the current Kannada name, Bengalūru, was announced as the city’s official name in 2006 (Pani et al. 209). By then, it has already become an important center for culture and science in India, becoming one of such biggest centers in the world.

Bangalore is widely known as the ”Silicon Valley of India” due to its role as a leading national information technology exporter. Indian technology organizations are headquartered in the city. Bangalore is a demographically diverse city, the second fastest growing major metropolitan area in India. Bangalore ranks as the fourth or fifth most productive urban area in India according to the latest urban economic assessments. Bangalore is home to 7,700 millionaires and 8 billionaires with a combined net worth of $320 billion (“Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum”). Largely contributing to India’s economy and human resource, Bangalore remains one of the most important cities in the country.

Conclusion

The government building and the legislature of the state of Karnataka are very original architecture in the so-called neo-Arabian style. One of the oldest temples in the Dravidian style - Bull Temple, Nandi, a sacred buffalo carved on a huge stone. It is home to many educational and research institutions. Numerous government aerospace and defense organizations are located in the city. The city is also home to the Kannada film industry.

Works Cited
”About Us”. Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum, 2022, https://www.vismuseum.gov.in/about-us/. Pani, Narendar et al. Bengaluru, Bangalore, Bengaluru. SAGE, 2010.