The city

01City Overview

What Bengaluru is like

Bengaluru built modern Indian technology.

Infosys, Wipro and a generation of global capability centres, or GCCs (the big tech back offices of multinational companies), set the pattern. Flipkart, Swiggy, Razorpay, Zerodha, Cred and PhonePe came next. The city sits on a 920-metre plateau, which gives it India's mildest climate. People speak fluent English, the food is global and craft beer is everywhere. It is India's most cosmopolitan tech city, and a posting here puts you inside South Asia's largest innovation network.

02Culture & Heritage

History and festivals

Bengaluru is older than its tech name suggests.

Kempegowda, a chieftain under the Vijayanagara empire, founded the city in 1537, and the four towers he built still mark the edges of the old town. After 1809 the British made it the largest army cantonment in South India. Bangalore Palace, Vidhana Soudha and Cubbon Park show each layer, from royal to colonial to state capital. The city still holds the all-night Karaga procession and marks Karnataka Rajyotsava every November. Music, literature and film festivals fill the rest of the year.

Photo: Shri, CC BY-SA 3.0

Mar / Apr

Karaga · Bengaluru's Oldest Festival

Centred on Dharmaraya Swamy Temple in the historic Pete, the Bengaluru Karaga is more than 250 years old. On the night of Chaitra Pournami, the Karaga-bearer balances a floral pyramid on his head through narrow old-city lanes packed with thousands. Among the most striking folk rituals of South India, and unmistakably Bengaluru.

Photo: Djsourabh.bwd, CC BY-SA 4.0

1 November

Karnataka Rajyotsava

Karnataka Foundation Day, marking the state's formation in 1956. Vidhana Soudha is lit in yellow and red; flags fly from every commercial street; cultural performances at Nadaprabhu Kempegowda statue, Town Hall and Cubbon Park. A state holiday and a moment when Bengaluru's Kannadiga identity is most visible.

Sep / Oct

Dasara · Karnataka's State Festival

Mysore is the epicentre (the Wodeyar royal procession is one of India's most spectacular pageants), but Bengaluru celebrates with golu doll displays in Tamil and Telugu households, lighting at Vidhana Soudha and processions at the Bull Temple. A long-weekend escape to Mysore during Dasara is essential at least once.

December

Bangalore Literature Festival

Hosted at The Lalit Ashok, BLF is South India's flagship literary weekend. More intimate than Jaipur Lit Fest, it draws Booker laureates, southern-language poets, founder-authors and journalists for two days of panels. The defining cultural event of the year for Bengaluru's expat-intellectual circuit.

03Climate

Bengaluru's three seasons

The weather is the main reason people don't want to leave Bengaluru.

The city sits on a 920-metre plateau. Its hottest month averages a high of 34°C, against 40°C in Delhi and 37°C in Chennai, and the air is far less humid than Mumbai's. Winters are crisp, and the monsoon cools the city without Mumbai's downpours. Even in peak summer (April-May) it rarely goes past the mid-30s°C, and only a few days cross 35°C. Cubbon Park, Lalbagh, Sankey Tank, Hebbal Lake and the bougainvillea-lined cantonment streets stay green all year, which is why it is called the Garden City.

Each month shows the average daily low and high in °C, from the India Meteorological Department's 1991 to 2020 normals for Bengaluru city. Checked 7 Oct 2026.