Culture of Bangalore
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Bangalore is the capital and largest city in the Indian state of Karnataka. With a population of over 6 million, the city is the 3rd largest city in India and 27th largest city in the world. Bangalore is of the more ethnically diverse cities in the country, with over 62% of the city's population comprising migrants from other parts of India. Historically a multicultural city, Bangalore has experienced a dramatic social and cultural change with the advent of the liberalization and expansion of the Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing industries in India. IT companies in Bangalore employ over 35% of India's pool of 1 million IT professionals.
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[edit] Garden City
Bangalore is known as the Garden City of India and has two nationally recognized botanical gardens — Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park, which attract a lot of visitors through the year. The city was the recipient of the Indira Priyadarshini Vruksha Mitra award in the late 1980s, in recognition of its extensive green cover.
[edit] Religion
The people of Bangalore are called Bangaloreans and the definition permeates class, religion and language. Deepavali, the "Festival of Lights", transcends demographic and religious lines and is celebrated with great vigor. 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.
[edit] Entertainment
Bangalore is home to the Kannada film industry which churns out about 80 movies each year and is the fifth largest movie industry in India, in terms of revenue. The Kannada Movie Industry has spawned a different colloquial type variety altogether, commonly referred to as Bangalore Kannada.
[edit] Cuisine
The diversity of the cuisine available is reflective of the social and economic diversity of Bangalore. Roadside vendors, tea stalls, South Indian, North Indian, Muslim food, Chinese and Western fast food are all very popular in the city. Udupi restaurants, are very popular and serve predominantly vegetarian cuisine. The Chinese food and the Thai food served in most of the restaurants are customized to cater to the tastes of the Indian population.
Some of the renowned traditional Bangalore vegetarian restaurants are MTR (Mavalli Tiffin Room), Vidyarthi Bhavan, Udupi Krishna Bhavan, Ramakrishna Lunch Home, Hotel Sharavathi in Yelahanka, New Krishna Bhavan, Janatha Hotel, Central Tiffin Room, Restaurants at Janardhana Hotel and Chalukya Hotel and Ullas to name a few. The masala dosa - rice pancake smeared with red chilly chutney and stuffed with potato curry, 'set dosa' - 3 medium sized dosas, 'benne masalae' - thick rice pancake prepared with butter - are some of the local favorites and few stake the origin of these dishes from Bangalore. Bisi bele bath, Rava idli, the spicy Uppittu - served as Khara Bath in most of the restaurants are some of the other local favorites.
The Muslim cuisine of Bangalore is unique as it delivers a very interesting blend of Mughlai cuisine, Hyderabadi Muslim or Nawabi cuisine as it is called with a distinct Bangalorean flavour. The MM Road in Frazer town is renowned for its unique collection of about 7 to 8 Muslim Restaurants including one quite known Richies catering to usually the middle class and the Upper middle class. Empire Restaurant of Shivajinagar is very Famous and has its own chain of restaurants throughout Bangalore. The most favorites include the Tandoori Chicken, Bangalorean Biriyani, Sheek kebabs, Sheek Rolls, Chicken kebabs, Rumali Rotis and a lot more. Road side stalls however rather not difficult to find in areas with a Muslim population give a more dynamic but risky option of barbecued and tasty beef sheek kebab and local Bangalorean recipe Phaal, beef cubes in spicy green masala, served with hot Rice Sevian although one has to be particularly careful if their immune system is weak and prone to diarrheas and tummy upsets on eating unaccustomed food. Fried Mutton Brains is also a really tasty choice for daring food-a-holics.
Arabian cuisine is also slowly on the rise with Shawarma and Felafil gathering some popularity although these hotels are usually frequented by Arab students and Gulf returned Indians.
Some of the bakeries in Bangalore are also quite popular for a quick snack. There are many fruit juice stalls and shoppers often visit them.
Bangalore also has some fine dining and specialized restaurants that cover various cuisines of the world. For good Mangalorean and Konkan style seafood, there's Kudla and Sa-na-dige. The city also is known to have really good Italian and new-age continental food in places like Sunny's on Lavelle Road and Olive Beach. The various restaurants in the five-star hotels in the city also offer some very authentic and delicious meals. Some of these include Blue Ginger (Thai/ Vietnamese, Taj West End), Raj Pavilion (Colonial Indian Cuisine, Sheraton Windsor Manor), Zen (Japanese / Korean, Leela Palace), and the many 24-hour cafes these hotels run.
[edit] Sport
Cricket in Bangalore, just as in the rest of the nation, is the most popular sport, however football, Basketball and Badmington are far more popular comparatively than the average Indian city. Significant numbers of India's national team have come from Bangalore, including Gundappa Viswanath, Rahul Dravid, Venkatesh Prasad, Anil Kumble, Erapalli Prasanna, Robin Uthappa and B.S. Chandrashekar. Many of the city's children play Gully cricket and football on the roads and in city's many public fields. Bangalore's main international cricket stadium is the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, which hosted its first match in 1974 and was the venue for the India-Pakistan cricket quarter-final during World Cup 1996.International Cricket was played at the Central College grounds before moving to the current venue.
Other famous sports persons from Bangalore include Badminton player and former All England Badminton Championship winner Prakash Padukone, Tennis player and 10 time Grand Slams winner Mahesh Bhupathi, Cueist Pankaj Advani and athlete Ashwini Nachappa.
[edit] Social and Night life
- See also: List of nightclubs and bars in Bangalore
Bangalore has an active night culture and is home to over 200 clubs and bars. The city is also referred to by many as the "Pub Capital of India". Popular nightspots in Bangalore include Pecos, The Club Inferno and TGIF. Bangalore has a number of elite clubs, like the Bangalore Golf Club, Bowring Institute, Karnataka Golf Association, the Karnataka State Cricket Club and the Bangalore Club which is so exclusive, it has a 25 year waiting list and counts among its previous members Winston Churchill and the Maharajah of Mysore.
Since the recent explosion of software companies in Bangalore, it has seen a rise in the number of western-style Malls, such as The Forum, Bangalore Central and The Garuda. These malls are evolving as the current "hang-outs" for both the young and the old, with trendy stores, restaurants and the latest crop of clubs (such as The Hint, at Bangaore Central). Another change has been the gradual decline of single-screen theaters and the increase of multi-plex theatres, hosted by the same burgeoning malls. The BPO and IT boom has contributed to lot of disposable income among the younger generation.
