BengaluruThe garden city that became India’s tech capital — Lalbagh greens, pub lanes and a metro under a traffic legend
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Bengaluru in one minute
Bengaluru — live weather, population, hidden places and cost of living, auto-updated.
Bengaluru, India’s Silicon Valley, sits at a cool 920 metres on the Deccan plateau — founded 1537 by Kempe Gowda, gardened by Hyder Ali’s Lalbagh, and re-founded by the tech wave: Infosys and Wipro, Electronic City and the Outer Ring Road campuses. Census 2011 counted 84.4 lakh in the BBMP city — today’s estimates run well past 1.2 crore.
The twin cores still show — the old Pete bazaars around Chickpet and the wide Cantonment avenues of MG-Brigade road. Cubbon Park and Vidhana Soudha anchor the centre, VV Puram feeds the food walks, and the city’s craft-beer and gig culture runs from Indiranagar to HSR — India’s startup capital, one filter coffee at a time.
Fast facts
| Status | State capital · Municipal corporation (BBMP) |
| District | Bengaluru Urban (HQ) |
| Division | Bengaluru |
| District population (2011) | 96,21,551 |
| City population (2011) | 84,43,675 |
| Urban agglomeration | 84,99,399 (2011) — metro est. 1.2 cr+ |
| Elevation | ≈920 m (Deccan plateau) |
| Languages | Kannada · English · Hindi · Tamil · Telugu |
| Main stations | KSR Bengaluru (SBC) · Yeshwanthpur (YPR) · Cantonment (BNC) |
| Nearest airport | Kempegowda Intl (BLR) — ~35 km |
| Founding | 1537 — Kempe Gowda I |
| Gardens | Lalbagh (1760) · Cubbon Park (1870) |
| District literacy | 87.7% (2011) |
| Famous for | IT capital · Lalbagh · pub & startup culture |
City map
Demographics CENSUS 2011
Last official census — 2021 census deferred, estimates update on release.
84,43,675 residents
per 1,000 males
municipal area (2011)
≈9,28,804 children (est.)
🌟 Hidden & heritage places
Bengaluru beyond the postcards — quiet places and lanes most guides skip.
Lalbagh Glass House
The 1889 glass house modelled on Crystal Palace — flower shows in January and August under the centuries-old trees.
Directions ↗Bangalore Palace
The Wodeyar’s Tudor-style palace — wood-carved halls, tour audio of the royal family and the palace grounds gigs.
Directions ↗Vidhana Soudha
The neo-Dravidian secretariat — the country’s largest legislative building, lit up on Sunday evenings.
Directions ↗Chickpet & Avenue Road
The founding bazaar warren — silk shops, book stalls and the flower market’s dawn bustle.
Directions ↗VV Puram Thindi Beedi
The vegetarian food walk — holige, benne dosa, Congress peanuts and ghee-soaked sweets in one lane.
Directions ↗Bugle Rock & Gavi Gangadhareshwara
The 3-billion-year-old peninsular gneiss outcrop and Kempe Gowda’s cave temple aligned to the sun.
Directions ↗Cubbon Park & State Library
The 300-acre core park — shaded reading lawns, the red Gothic library and Sunday morning cycling.
Directions ↗Cauvery & Gandhi Bazar
The Mysore-silk and sandalwood emporia plus the Basavanagudi market’s temple-corner mornings.
Directions ↗Weekend getaways
Approximate road distances from Bengaluru.
Cost of living
Indicative monthly estimates for a single person — verify locally before deciding.
| 1 BHK rent (city) | ₹5,000 – 9,000 / mo |
| 2 BHK rent (city) | ₹9,000 – 16,000 / mo |
| Meal at a local eatery | ₹100 – 200 |
| Groceries (single, month) | ₹4,500 – 6,500 |
| Utilities (basic) | ₹1,500 – 3,000 |
| Monthly total (est.) | ₹14,000 – 23,000 |
Estimates only · metro market, wide suburb spread · updated with market data over time
Top industries
What actually runs Bengaluru.
IT capital of India
Infosys and Wipro’s homes, plus the ORR’s Global Capability Centers and Electronic City’s campuses — the country’s software salary engine.
IT ↗Startup ecosystem
India’s densest founder belt — Koramangala and HSR incubators, unicorn HQs and the VC corridor along 100 Feet Road.
Startups ↗HAL & aerospace
Hindustan Aeronautics’ fighter lines, the Air Force station and the Aero India biennial at Yelahanka.
Aerospace ↗Biotech & pharma
Biocon’s Hebbal anchor and the Genome Valley-adjacent labs — the city holds a big share of India’s biotech output.
Biotech ↗MG Road & mall economy
The flagship retail mile — Brigade Road’s legacy showrooms to the Indiranagar 100 Feet boutique strip.
Retail ↗IISc, IIM & engineering belt
The Indian Institute of Science and the city’s 200+ engineering colleges — the talent pipeline behind the tech economy.
Education ↗ISRO & space-tech
The Indian Space Research Organisation HQ and a growing private space cluster around the city.
Space ↗Top restaurants & food
Where locals actually eat — local counters, classics and street institutions.
Benne-dosa tiffin rooms
The Karnataka institution — CTR’s benne dosa, Vidyarthi Bhavan’s 1943 hall and filter coffee refills.
Directions ↗VV Puram food walk
The vegetarian thindi beedi — holige, avalakki, masala peanuts and jalebi on paper plates.
Directions ↗Craft-beer & brewpub mile
The city’s famous brewery belt — Toit and Arbor’s taps from Indiranagar to Koramangala.
Directions ↗Darshini quick-meals
The Karnataka stand-and-eat format — idli-vada tokens, bisi bele bath and one-rupee filter coffee.
Directions ↗Military hotel classics
The old carnivore kitchens — Donne biryani, country-chicken saaru and ragi mudde at Shivaji Military Hotel lines.
Directions ↗Style-verified from local guides · Sep 2026 · hours change — call ahead
Markets & shopping
Chickpet & Avenue Road
The founding Pete’s commercial maze — silks, fireworks-season shops and the Avenue Road book stalls.
Directions ↗KR Market & flower gate
Asia-scale flower market at dawn — marigold heaps, jasmine strings and the wholesale auction floor.
Directions ↗Indiranagar 100 Feet Road
The lifestyle strip — designer boutiques, cafés and the weekend brunch crowd of the IT belt.
Directions ↗Festival & fair calendar
Bengaluru Karaga
The city’s oldest festival — the Karaga priest-goddess procession through the Pete’s lanes since centuries.
Lalbagh flower show
The Republic-Day and Independence-Day Glass House shows — Mysore-palace replicas built in blooms.
Makar Sankranti & Pongal belt
The harvest kite season — ellu-bella sharing and the Nandi sunrise trips.
Dasara carry-over
The state festival’s city version — Jamboo Savari processions and pandal-hopping through Malleshwaram.
October – February
The plateau’s cool months — park mornings, gig season and the coffee-country runs.
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FAQ
What is Bengaluru famous for?
India’s IT and startup capital — Infosys and ISRO’s home, Lalbagh’s flower shows, pub culture, benne dosa mornings and its famous weather.
What is the population of Bengaluru?
Census 2011: 84,43,675 in the BBMP city and 96,21,551 in Bengaluru Urban district; post-2011 metro estimates run past 1.2 crore (est.).
What is the pincode of Bengaluru?
The central MG Road belt starts at 560001; the city spans 560001–562149 including Electronic City and the airport zone.
Which places should I visit there?
Lalbagh and Cubbon Park, Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore Palace, the VV Puram food street and a Nandi Hills sunrise — with Mysuru a weekend run.