First day in Bangalore or Bengaluru?
On our first day in Bangalore, we were to visit the Bull Temple, the Bangalore fort, and the Krishna Rajendra Market.
The Bull Temple is one of the largest temples in the world. The entrance was stacked with numerous idols of all different sorts. Shoes had to be removed before entering the temple to show your respects. The bull was built from one single granite rock and was ornamented with what seemed three golden horns and yellow flowers. It is recognized as one of the oldest temples in Bangalore being built in 1537 in Karnataka. The temple is formerly known as the Nandi Temple which is for the worship of the sacred bull of Lord Shiva who was the god of skies and destruction. The bull Nandi represents strength, load-bearing capacity, and virility.
From the temple, we traveled by bus to reach the fort. The fort was different in design as it was done by Islamic architects. No idols were present within the designs of the fort and instead simplistic flowers and shapes were present. The fort lies within Bengaluru Pete an area of Bengaluru city purposely designed by Kempegowda where the end of each road led to entrance gates of the fort. The doors of the fort were covered in spikes from the bottom half up. This was used as a defense mechanism to stop the elephants of intruders from pushing the doors in.
As we walked to and from the fort many vendors were alongside the streets selling fruits, clothing, and even home goods such a plates and cups. The streets were congested and packed with people coming and going. As we got closer to the Krishna Rajendra Market the traffic flowed into it. To focus your eyes on simply one thing seemed nearly impossible. Bright colors emerging from the fruit stands, a walking cow snacking on a cucumber from a local vendor were some of the attention grasping occasions. As we walked throughout the market hundreds of vendors of all fruits and vegetables of all sorts. As we snacked on some “finger bananas” we stepped down and entered the flower market. Walking through narrow walkways before entering the main plaza we saw colorful towers of powders and hanging flower ornaments. The floors filled with remaining flowers created the most beautiful mess one could imagine. As we reached the main plaza hundreds of flowers stacked throughout the floor of all different assortments and colors. Vendors would come to these wholesale markets to purchase flowers for temples, homes or even weddings. These flowers were all handpicked and hand assorted to these strings to create such perfect assortments.
After the market, we headed for lunch before our meeting with TATA to regain energy as we had spent the entire morning on foot and adjusting to Bangalore’s higher temperatures.
The geographical and economic difference of the market to TATA metaphorically represented Bangalore’s shift to a technologically advanced city from an informal one. TATA’s all glass building was something similar to those that we constantly in NYC. The two representatives of the company both with engineering backgrounds, of course, told us about TATAs history, and success but also their emphasis on corporate social responsibility. The company has a history of over 140 years with 48 years in business regarding engineering. Some stats about the company were
• ½ of earnings go forward to charitable donations in sectors such as education, medicine, science, scholarships, social welfare
• FUN FACT: Former president K. R. Narayanan went to university on a TATA scholarship
• 34% of the workforce is women, 100,000 of them engineers, the first country in India to have such stats
• Operations in over 100 countries, export to over 150
• Known for their consultancy services but their revenue earner is banking and financial
• Implement a customer-centric engagement model
• Globally connected workforce seamlessly through an Integrated quality management system.
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