Citizen Matters book: Get To Know Bengaluru Better, a Citizen Matters Guide

160+ interesting destinations in & around the city!!!

What is there to get to know in Bengaluru beyond Lalbagh, Cubbon Park and Bull Temple? You’d be surprised. Use this book to learn easily and quickly about 160+ interesting places. Cultural, historic, religious, cool, and more. Plan visits within and around the city in half or a full day!

E Book: Rs 80 only (Click here to buy)

Print book: Rs.99 only (out of stock)

ISBN: 9788192566917

Attractively produced, elegantly written, and massively informative, this is an invaluable guide to India’s most energetic and (arguably) most cosmopolitan city. Residents and visitors alike shall hugely profit from it.With this wonderful book in hand, I myself look forward to a deeper acquaintance with the culture, cuisine, architecture and heritage of my home town.

Ramachandra Guha
Eminent Historian

T V Mohandas Pai
Chairman, Manipal Global Education Services, (Former CFO and Head of HR, Infosys)

All of us love our city! But how many of us know our city? We are too busy, maybe a tad lazy or maybe just unable to find a single source to know our city better.

Bangalore is indeed a culturally and historically rich city, very diverse, very vibrant, very colourful and very lovable. The more we know about our city, the more will we discover her facets which enhance our respect and affection for our city. We also need to talk about our city, share with others, take our friends and family around and enhance our pride in our city so that she can evolve into something more beautiful, more compassionate, more giving, more vibrant and more diverse to represent all of us.

Well, our need is now being met. At long last we have a single source. Get to Know Bengaluru Better is that single source to know Bangalore.

Nisha Millet
Olympian and Director, Nisha Millet Swimming Academy

I congratulate Citizen Matters on compiling this wonderful, informative guide book on Bangalore. Having lived here for almost 20 years, even I have not discovered the vast and rich heritage and gems of nature that are hidden throughout the length and breadth of the city.

I especially love the section of walking trails like the food walks, the neighbourhood walks and bookworm’s trail. It also gives good options on exciting day trips just outside the city. Visitors to Bengaluru too have a great guidebook and at a very reasonable rate. So what are you waiting for, Bengaluru? Snap up this book without a second thought.

Shankar Jaganathan
Author and Economic Historian

In just eight hours, I more than doubled my knowledge of Bengaluru despite living in the city for over 50 years. A must-have book for all Bengaluru residents who would like to explore the city with friends and families. Parents can find dozens of places to entertain young children. This book will banish boredom for all Bengaluru residents.

Ammu Joseph
Journalist and Author

Now that Bangalore is so closely associated with the IT/ITeS industries that its name has become a verb, it is not surprising that few visitors and new residents are aware of the histories, cultures and attractions of the city beyond the tech parks, gated communities, malls, bars and restaurants that now seem to dominate the landscape and mindspace.  Having lived in Bengaluru for a quarter of a century, written a few articles about the city over the years, and tried to help several guests and fellow immigrants discover different aspects of life here, I know how difficult it is to compile information that provides at least glimpses of the range of things one can discover, do, enjoy and contribute to in this melting pot or salad bowl of multiple peoples and cultures.

So I welcome the Citizen Matters’ Get to Know Bengaluru Better Guide, which lists and describes not only heritage buildings and cultural centres, places of worship and traditional markets, but also parks and lakes, walking trails and cycling tracks, and day-trip destinations beyond city limits.  I look forward to the guide steadily growing into an even more comprehensive companion to life and times in Bangalore.

Nadoja Dr G Venkatasubbiah
Centenarian, Lexicographer and Kannada Scholar

Get to Know Bengaluru Better is a compendium of information about this magnificent city and its thousand attractions, scientifically analysed and suitably arranged. The new settlers in the city can find out the markets and museums, parks and beauty spots, theatres of entertainment, places of worship and the rest. Open the book and you will find that out easily.

Arundati Nag
Actor and Theatre Personality

A much needed book that gets to the meat of the matter…..”know Bengaluru better”. This book is concise and faithful in the way it gives the reader details of famous places and forgotten or hidden nooks and corners that define our dear city Bengaluru. An honest ‘must have book’ for every resident or visitor.

Vijay Thiruvady
Trustee, Bangalore Enrvironment Trust

Where are you located, how much time do you have and what are your interests? This book will tell you what you can see and experience in and around Bengaluru through it is more than 150 destinations covered. For example, if you are in Richards town and you have one hour, you could visit aPaulogy, a gallery depicting the city through a cartoonist’s eye.

The book is affordable, comprehensive, and loaded with information. It is an invaluable supplement to Citizen Matters’ previous book Living in Bengaluru for all Bangalore residents.

Mona Webber
Curator, aPaulogy

Bangalore is one of India’s most intriguing cities. Long famous for its “heavenly” weather, today it is also known as the IT capital of the country. Once a quiet  haven for the elderly and retired folk, today it teems with the exuberance of youth. Through its many changes and avatars, however, the city has retained its magic and gives truth to the old saying, “Once you have experienced Bangalore, you will always come back for more”… Glimpses of its colonial regal past exist beside the frantic pace of its often confusing present – it is a city of paradoxes, it is a city vivaciously alive!

This book encapsulates in an interesting and concise manner the magic to be found here, where if one makes an effort to look for it, one can still find a rich heritage of its history tucked away between and amidst the hi-tech glamour and chaos of modern day Bengaluru.

Prof. Sathya Prakash Varanashi
Convenor, INTACH Bangalore Chapter

It is a delight to have this guide book in my hands. I have seen many publications on city information, tourist guides and such others, but they are more focused at facilitating the visitor than enlightening them. As such, they are not an attraction for the local residents.

In comparison, Get to Know Bengaluru Better is worth keeping by everyone living here. What makes this small volume big in ideas are the varied walking trails covering parks, lakes, food, heritage and shopping along with cycling routes, day plans and outings, all following detailed outlines of each city part.  Information is not passed on in a dry routine manner, but structured around areas and activities, hence more reader -friendly. This guide can help a range of people – from providing brief notes on the city to a first time visitor to being an entry level handbook for someone aiming to become a city scholar. My congratulations to the team at Citizen Matters.

Archana Prasad
Artist, Founder and Director of Jaaga.in

Informative and useful. I love especially the book’s focus on neighbourhoods and little nooks and hideaways in there.

WHAT’s INSIDE
Get to Know Bengaluru Better

The team behind the book

Poornima Dasharathi

Poornima Dasharathi is the lead writer and editorial coordinator for Get to Know Bengaluru Better’s first edition. She has written extensively on travel, history and culture for Citizen Matters. She also takes people on heritage walks in and around the city. She worked in IT for 11 years before deciding to follow her passion for travel and history, especially local history.

Usha Hariprasad

Usha Hariprasad was a software engineer before becoming a freelance writer. Her interests include travelling extensively in unexplored territories and reaching out to people through counselling and life skills. She is the author of several travel articles in Citizen Matters. She dreams of doing serious photojournalism and more heritage writing.

Purnima Coontoor

Purnima Coontoor’s career as a mass media professional spanning 30 years has allowed her to dabble in all genres of journalism including TV, films, advertising, print and new media, earning her the title ‘Dashavatara Purnima’ among friends. She has taught journalism to undergraduate students in a city college and values that experience the most. Lately she has settled for freelance writing, editing and translation.

Shree DN

Shree is Associate Editor at Citizen Matters. Basically a science graduate-turned-media student-turned-television professional, she shifted her career to print media in 2011. Passionate about environmental and developmental issues, she has also worked as a freelance translator and writer.

Meera K

Meera K is co-founder and editor of Citizen Matters. She strongly believes that awareness of history and heritage is critical to connect with the city, reinforces a sense of place and belonging and encourages community engagement. She commissioned many of the articles on various interesting facets of Bengaluru which served as the foundation for this book.

Subramaniam Vincent

Subramaniam Vincent is co-founder and editor of the Citizen Matters and India Together e-newsmagazines, and is the architect of this guidebook. He believes that an original purpose of journalism is the provide information to citizens that they may be free and self-governing. He feels that discovering local history and enjoying it is part of this vision.

Acknowledgements

Get to Know Bengaluru Better is an edited, hybrid product like the Citizen Matters web newsmagszine itself. It contains a combination of work by professionals as well as crowdsourced (and verified) data, tables, and pictures from citizens of Bangalore, with a spirit of community thrown in.

The writing on places of history for instances is by authors who are in this field. The content on running trails, cycling trails, walks and other activities is from citizen-practitioners themselves. The number of people to credit will easily fill a page!

We acknowledge the following authors, journalists, interns and citizens towards their contributions in the making of this book. Without their inputs, this book would not have been possible.

Authors: Deepa Mohan, Krupa Rajangam, Meera Iyer, Vijay Thiruvady, Christina Daniels, Pushpa Achanta, Vinita and Amoghavarsha.

Bloggers: Srikara Dattatreya, Aliyeh Rizvi

Cycling Routes: Siva Sai N, Manjula Sridhar

Running Trails: Running community in Bengaluru

Interns: Thomas Mattappalil, Ebenezer Veerasingam, Suresh S

Photos Courtesy: Usha Hariprasad, Rudreshwar Sen, Jaideep Singh, Chitra K Reddy, Pranav Jha, Hariprasad Kodancha

Other guidebooks from Citizen Matters

Living in Bengaluru 2.0 Rs. 125 only

Buying Investing and Renting Property in Bengaluru Rs. 149 only