Sightseeing in central Bangalore

Our first proper weekend we split between shopping for food and bits and pieces for the house (which fortunately is both fully furnished and has a 'float' of kitchen stuff and linen - our own stuff may or may not still be on a boat...) and seeing some of the central sights of Bangalore.

The old fort

at the Bull temple

Tipu Sultan's summer palace

The fort is by one of the big city markets, but wonderfully cool and quiet within the walls. The Bull temple has the largest monolithic (and eponymous) statue - possibly in India. The summer palace is open on the north and south sides, so the breeze blows through and lots of people sat on the steps for a while before moving on. The wooden columns and some of the painted ceilings remain - after the British won / Tipu's martyrdom, it became for some time the seat of British power in the hill station as was.

Republic Day 3 Flower festival

Although the bank holiday fell on a Thursday, the entire weekend was dedicated to festivities. One of Tom's colleagues took us to Lal Bagh, the botanical gardens, to see the flower show.

Republic Day 2

The cultural programme (and competition) including three consortia of schools, and each performance had around 700 participants - with coordination and timing that must have taken months to perfect. 

Gandhiji was a recurring feature

Republic Day 1

Thursday 26 Jan was the 62nd anniversary of the signing of the Indian consitution - not to be confused with Independence Day. To mark the occasion we joined Tom's colleagues to hear the speech by the Governor of Karnataka (the state we live in) and watch the parade and cultural programme. The parade included not just the military stationed locally, but scouts, guides, traffic wardens and even the road safety club, amongst others.

The governor arriving

One of several excellent marching bands

Rather belatedly: our first day. 

Fortunately Tom didn't need to be in the office, so we did some food shopping - not from Waitrose (although apparently there is a branch on the other side of the city), and took an auto home.

Eating tea in the living room