03 août 2009
Karnataka High Court - Attara Kacheri, Bangalore.
Karnataka High Court
Karnataka High Court, popularly known as "Attara Kacheri" is located infront of Vidhan Soudha. It was constructed during Tipu's reign , to accomodate 18 departments of Revenue & Secretariat. This neo-classical building was designed by Major Gen. Richard Hieram Sankey & constructed under the supervision of Rao Bahadur Arcot Narayanaswamy Mudaliar. This red colored, two-story building with Corinthian columns was completed in 1864. On the ceiling of the central hall, there's a portrait of Sir Mark Cubbon (Commissioner of Mysore) & there's also an equestrian statue of him behind the building. It housed public offices ( Revenue + Secretariat + Judiciary) till 1956. When Vidhana Soudha was constructed , legislative section was shifted there & this became Mysore High Court. In 1973, it was renamed as Karnataka High Court.
29 juillet 2009
Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore, India.
Vidhana Soudha
Vidhana Soudha houses the Legislative Assembly of the Karnataka State. Former Chief Minister Mr Kengal Hanumanthiah (1951-1956) took initiative to construct this magnificient building under the supervision of Chief Engineer Late B.R Manickam. Foundation stone was laid by the then Prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 13th July 1951. It took 4 years to complete this Neo-Dravidian style building & is popularly known as the "Taj Mahal of South India ". This is the largest legislative building in India. 
Whole building is constructed using Bangalore Granite & the front door is of Mysore Sandal Wood. This majestic building sprawls over 60 acres & consists of four floors. Front porch is supported by 12 granite columns each 40ft tall with an inscription "Government Work is God's Work". The central dome is 60ft in diameter & is also the roof top of the State Banquet Hall. There are 6 other small domes , but on the central dome is the Indian National Emblem (Four Lions resting on a circular abacus ). Adjacent to this building is the Vikas Soudha which houses some of the ministries & the red building just opposite to this is the Karnataka High Court.
Vidhana Soudha
Sampangirama Nagar, Bangalore,
Karnataka, India
17 juillet 2009
Kempfort Shiva Temple , Bangalore, India
Shiva Temple
This 65 ft statue of Lord Shiva is said to be one of the largest Shiva idol in the world. Lord Shiva is in the lotus position with two hands on the lap & other two hands carrying damaru & trident. River Ganga flows from his matted locks. The gigantic statue with Mount Kailash background is quite impressive. This temple is situated in the Airport Road, just behind "Total" supermarket. This modern temple is like Versailles Palace :) Everthing must be paid separately - Entrance fee, camera fee, video fee, pooja fee & a fee to enter an artificial cave.
Kempfort Shiva Temple
97, Murugeshpalya, Bangalore,
Karnataka 560017, India.
Important Shiva Temples in India are Rameshwar in Tamil Nadu, Mallikarjun in Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleshwar & Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh,Vaidyanath in Bihar,Kashi Vishwanath in Uttar Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himachal Pradesh, Nageshwar & Somnath in Gujarat, Bhimasankar,Trymbakeshwar & Grishneshwar in Maharashtra.
09 juillet 2009
Dodda Ganapathi Temple, Bangalore , India
Dodda Ganapathi Temple
Just adjacent to the Bull Temple is the Dodda Ganapathi Temple. Importance of this temple is that the Ganesh idol is made of 110kg of butter. Every four years the diety of butter is broken & distributed to devotees.
Bull Temple, Bangalore, India.
Bull Temple
This dravidian style temple was built by Kempe Gownda in 16th centuary. Bull temple is located in Basavanagundi at the top of Bugle hill. This majestic bull is carved out of a single granite stone. In kannada "Basava" means bull. Monolithic Nandi is 4.5 m height & 6.5m long & an iron plate is over it's head to stop growing. It 's said that Vishwa Bharathi river originates from the feet of this sacred bull.
Legend says that once a groundnut farmer of Sunkenhalli was enraged against a bull who destroyed his crop. The bull sat stunned & suddenly transformed into stone. Every year in December , a groundnut fair - (Kadalakkei Parishe ) is conducted in the Temple premises & the farmers offer their first harvest to this sacred bull.
Bull Temple,
Basavanagundi, Bangalore,
Karnataka, India.
19 juin 2009
Lalbagh Garden - Bangalore, India
Lalbagh Garden
Lalbagh is one of the most famous botanical garden in the Bangalore City. This 240 acres park was created by Hyder Ali & completed by his son Tipu Sultan. After Tipu's regime it was handed over to East India Company. Benjamin Heyne was in charge of this Botanical Garden upto 1812. He collected some rare species from the Western Ghats. At present it's a living conservatory of rare tropical plants & centuary old trees. There is a majestic statue of Chama Raja Wodeyar - Maharaja of Mysore. Under this statue there are two figures- one representing justice & other representing knowledge. A bust of Dr M.H Marigowda ( Father of Indian Horticulture) is in the main entrance. It was he who doubled the area of this park.The Glass House, a small replica of the crystal palace of London was built under the guidance of Prince of Wales & it's a venue of Annual Flower 
show.
KH Road, Bangalore,
This garden is aesthetically designed with lawns,flowerbeds, lotus pool, rose garden , band stand & fountains. HMT has erected a giant Quartz Flower Clock in the garden. Some trees are planted by VIP's. Ashoka tree by Indira Gandhi & a Fir tree by Queen Elizabeth. In April, Jarul trees (Pride of India), Flame of the forest , Cassia javanica & Candle tree are in full bloom.
Karnataka 560004, India
22 mai 2009
Gavi Gangadeshwara Temple - Bangalore
Gangadeshwara Cave Temple 
Gavi Gangadeshwara Temple is an ancient monolith temple carved around a 3000 years old natural cave (vedic period). "Gavi" means cave in kannada. Ancient temple was built around 9th centuary and poojas were conducted by Sage Gouthama & Sage Bharadwaja. Now their ancient dieties are kept beside the main shrine. Later in 16th centuary Kempe Gowda renovated it to celebrate his release after 5yr imprisonement by Rama Raya.
Every year in January (14th/15th) , devotees visit this temple to watch a spectacular event. On Makara Shankranthi Day evening (between 5pm-6pm) , sunrays passes precisely in between the horns of the Nandi Bull( infront of the temple) and falls directly on the Shiva Lingam (inside the cave) and illuminates the diety.The architect of this temple combines vastukala with astronomy. This reveals the extrordinary talents of our vedic ancestors.
Gavi Gangadeshwara Temple is situated in the Shivaganga hill - This 1368m height hill have four faces resembling "Nandi" from East, Ganesh from west, Linga from south & Cobra from the north. There are two temples Honnadevi Temple & Gavi Gangadeshwara Temple . A natural stream called Pathal Ganga flows in between these two inner sanctums.In the temple there are 33 dieties and 2 shrines God Gangadeshwar (Lord Shiva) & Goddesss Honnadevi( Parvathi). Parikrama ( place around the sanctum sanctorum where the diety is installed) runs through a bifurcated cave pathway. It is said that one path leads to Shivagaga (Temple town) & other to Kashi. This cave pathway is very small & one needs to bend / crawl to complete the circuit.
19 mai 2009
Bangalore - Capital of Karnataka
Bangalore - Garden City of India
Photo taken from the top of one of the Kempe Gowda Towers
Legend says that in 13th centuary , Hoysala King Veera Ballala got lost on an hunting expedition . Tired and hungry, he was offered boiled beans by an old lady. Overwhelmed with gratitude, he named this area as "Benda-kaal-ooru", which means "City of Cooked Beans". Later British renamed as Bangalore.
Bangalore / Bengaluru is the capital of Karnataka state & the fifth largest city in India. This city is famous for it's tree lined avenues, beautiful gardens, monuments & above all a pleasant climate. Now there are so many nick names - Garden City of India, Retired Man's Paradise, Fashion capital of India, Silicon Valley of India, Byte Basket , Hi-tech capital of India etc..
The arichitect of modern Bangalore is Kempe Gowda (1513- 1539) a chieftain under Vijayanagar Empire. He was impressed by Hampi , the beautiful capital of Vijayanagar Kingdom. He wished to build a new city & expressed his desire to the king. King not only granted permission to build a new city but also donated 12 hoblis (revenue subdivisions) with an annual income of 30,000 varahas (gold coins). Yelahanka town is the one of the oldest (more than 500 years) in Karnataka. At present it's the northern periphery of Bangalore City.
Kempe Gowda Tower situated on the top of a 3000 million year old rock in LalBagh Gardens. 
Kempe Gowda built a mud fort with eight huge gates & four watch towers to mark his territtory. The four towers are situated- inside Lalbagh park, one near Mekhri circle, near Kempambudhi lake & one near Ulsoor lake. City was divided into commercial localities called "Pet". Even now some places are known by those names eg Chickpet (little town), Doddapet (big town),Taragupet (grain market), Halipet(cotton market) etc.. He built so many temples & lakes in & around Bangalore. Bull Temple at Basavangudi , Gavi Gangeswara Temple at Gavipuram & Ulsoor lake (Halsur / Alasur) are some of them.
