The Bangalore I know

Bangalore is known by many names and some of them such as Pensioners Paradise and Garden City are history. Today, Bangalore is better known as Silicon city, IT and BT City and what not.

The city is also slowly gaining recognition as the metropolis of malls and shopping complexes.

Here is a small compilation of Namma Bangalore and its distinction. Just write in if you have more such facts. They will be included in the post.

Bangalore is actually a hill station. It is the biggest hill station in the world.  

Bangalore till recently had the distinction of being the only city in the world to have a traffic crossing with manual signaling right in the middle of a flyover-the Richmond Circle flyover.

Once known as a City of lakes, Bangalore is today labeled as the  city of forsaken lakes.
Bangalore has recorded the highest growth within a span of 20 years.

Bangalore has the highest number of  two-wheelers in the world.

It also has the distinction of  reporting the highest number of two-wheeler thefts in India.

Bangalore courts-the lower courts-have reported the highest number of filing of cheque bounce cases or cases registered under NI act.

The city has the highest traffic density in the world.

Bangalore is also known as the suicide capital. Its suicide rate are the highest.  

Bangalore has the highest number of pubs in the world-hence its new nomenclature-Pub City.

Bangalore has the highest number of breweries in the world.

Bangalore has the highest number of cinemas in the world.

The city also has the highest number of  public sectors and government organisations in India.

Bangalore was the first city to receive electricity and this was when the Wodeyars ruled Mysore State which included Bangalore.  

Bangalore is considered the fashion capital of the East comparable to Paris.

Bangalore consumes the maximum power in Karnataka but at the same time it generates the maximum revenues for Karnataka.

Bangalore roughly needs 2500 MW of power every day as against the State supply of 6000 MW every day.

Bangalore has the least number of Internet users when compared to Delhi, Hyderabad and four other cities. This is sharp contrast to its name as India’s silicon valley.

Bangalore has the highest number of Anglo-Indians in India.

Bangalore University is among the biggest in India. It generates the highest number of theses doctors (Phd) every year.

Bangalore University once had 57 engineering colleges affiliated to it, which is highest in the world. The colleges were later affiliated to VTU. Bangalore today has among the highest number of engineering colleges in the world.     

Bangalore is one of the few cities with two amazing botanical garden-Lalbagh and the botanical garden of UAS in Hebbal.

Bangalore has an ant species named after it called Diblocondyla bangalorica.

Bangalore has one of the oldest Government history museums in India. The museum building itself is a work of art.

Lalbagh is among the oldest botanical garden in the world. It is one of the largest repositories of plants and shrubs in the world.

The oldest rock formation in the world and the second oldest are in Bangalore, The first is in Lalbagh and the second is the Bugle rock.

Bangalore has pone of the few temples dedicated to Yudhistera-the Dharmaraya temple in old Bangalore.

Bangalore has the distinction of having the first rocket laboratorties and testing fields at Taramangalapet near City Market. They were set up by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.

The Bangalore torpedo-an explosive device, was invented in Bangalore.

Bangalore has the largest number of leather puppets in the world. They are exhibited at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat in Kumarakrupa.

The Chitra Santhe is one of the largest open art and painting events held outdoors every year in Bangalore.  

Bangalore has the maximum number of temples, mosques, churches and gurdwaras or places of worship.

Bangalore has produced the highest number of IT professionals and science graduates over time.

The first US information technology firm to set up shop in Bangalore was Texas Instruments.

The Ramanavami music celebrations are the largest diverse carnatic music festival anywhere. There are more than three dozen well-known venues such as Fort High School, Seshadripuram School, Shankarapuram, Jayarama Seva Mandali, Indiranagar and Malleswaram.

Bangalore is the third city after Calcutta and Delhi to get a metro.

The Advocates Association of Bangalore is the largest such body in India. It has the maximum number of members or rather advocates.

The High Court once housed 18 different departments of the State and hence the name Attara Kutcheri. It is the only building in India to house all the three wings of governance-Legislature, Executive and judiciary.

The High Court heard its first PIL against its own demolition. The then Bench headed by Justice Venkatachalaiah dismissed the PIL. Later, public pressure forced the Ramakrishna Hedge Government to retain the heritage building.

The GPO building on Ambedkar Veedhi is classified as the best post office building in the world.     

Seemebadanakai or Bangalore brinjal or Chow Chow was first introduced in Bangalore by James Cameron, the Superintendent of Lalbagh in the 19^th century.

The electronic voting machines were first manufactured in Bangalore by Bharat Electronics. They were first used in the Kerala Assembly elections in 1982. Today, they are used in all format of elections.

The first communal disturbance in Bangalore was in June 1928 and Sir M Visvesvaraiah headed the committee to look into the issue.

Basavanagudi and Malleswaram localities came up as an aftermath of the bubonic plague epidemic in 1898.

Domlur is named after mosquitoes. The first settlers in the area were Telugu speaking people who looked on with horror at the rather large size of the mosquitoes and called them Domulu-the Telugu word for mosquito.