Famous for its IT industry and temperate climate, Bangalore is called the “Garden City of India”. Bangalore is the capital of the Karnataka state and India’s fourth largest city (8.5 million).

Most foreign visitors, including our participants, arrive in Bangalore by air, at the Bangalore International Airport. Many airlines have direct flights to Bangalore, while the city is well-connected by air and train to the Indian cities Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai.

Kannada is the official language of Karnataka and is widely spoken in Bangalore. English is also popular, especially with office workers. Other languages include Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and Hindi.

Most orphanage volunteers live at the orphanage itself. For other programs, most volunteers need to take a short bus ride from their accommodations to their volunteer job. Transportation is very cheap compared to western standards. Volunteers are responsible for the cost of their daily transport in Bangalore

Bangalore draws a lot of domestic tourists because of its year-round temperate climate. Temperatures range from 69 F (20 C) to 27 F (80 C). The best weather is from June to September.

Although most international tourists consider it a mere connection point to other cities, Bangalore has its share of worthwhile attractions. We recommend visits to the government building Vidhana Soudha, Cubbon Park, the Government Museum, and Bull Temple. For some up-scale shopping, the must-see spot is MG Road in the heart of the city. Weekend excursions from Bangalore include hill station Nandi Hills, trekkers paradise Savanadurga, Mysore, and even Chennai.

(In 2006 the government of Bangalore announced the city is changed its official name to “Bengaluru”.)