Sacred Bull walking tour in Bangalore with guide
Description
On this walking tour, experience the cultural heritage of Bangalore through its gardens, temples, and bazaars in the company of an experienced and well-read guide. The highlights include the story of the sacred bull, visit 240 acre Lalbagh Botanical Garden, traditional cuisine breakfast at a local eatery, Dodda Ganapathy temple, the mystery of twilight sun light at Gavi Gandheswar temple and walk through the local bazaars.
Tour Options
Itinerary
We will head to Lalbagh the magnificent botanical garden. We will spend the next one hour walking through the 240 acre Lalbagh Botanical Garden with more than 1,800 species of plants, shrubs and trees. Built by the legendary Hyder Ali in 1760, Lalbagh Botanical Garden is a prominent landmark of Bangalore and is host to the world famous flower show making it a key destination among places to visit in Bangalore. Lalbagh Botanical Garden is not only a horticulturist’s paradise, but it also provides a respite to people of Bangalore from the ever-spreading concrete jungle.
The Bull temple of Bangalore is dedicated to Nandi Bull, the vehicle of Lord Shiva. Situated in Basavanagudi, this temple has been built in the Dravidian style of architecture. Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bangalore, got the Bull temple built during his time. This temple counts amongst the oldest temples of the city and draws devotees from all over the country. There is huge idol of Nandi Bull inside the temple, measuring 4.5 m in height and 6.5 m in length. This idol is said to have been carved out of a single rock. The bull also has a small iron plate on its head. As per the tradition, this plate prevents the bull from growing!
We will also visit Dodda Ganapathy temple during this Bangalore walk. It is a huge monolith of Lord Ganesha 18 feet high and 16 feet wide. Legend says the statue has grown to its present size on its own!
We walk to the legendary Gavi Gandheswar temple which is built in a natural cave. This temple witnesses a unique phenomenon on the festival day of Sankarati (harvest festival) when during the evening sunlight passes through an arc between the horns sacred bull statue and illuminates the idol!
We will walk past a few charming bazaars of Bangalore in the last leg of the Bangalore walk. The sights, sounds and smell of these Bazaars are unique and a must experience.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements
Reviews(16)
Very nice tour! And nice guide
This tour was the best part of my trip so far. The tour guide was very informative and helpful throughout the entire tour. Would definitely recommend to everyone.
Vignesh was an amazing tour guide! We started at the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens where he was very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna there. We then went to multiple temples and learned a lot about the Hindu gods. Vignesh also took us to a local coffee shop and truly went above and beyond in accompanying us to different stores following the official tour. He is a Bangalore local and provided us with a lot of great recommendations.
I had a wonderful experience on this tour which was lead by the amazing Diwarka. He had great knowledge and was able to answer all the questions I had. The temples were fascinating with so much history, I could never have done this on my own. Would highly recommend this tour, was nice to be able to walk and explore the peaceful botanical gardens with so much to see and learn.
My guide Diwakar was super informative of the history of the areas we toured. He bent over backwards to make sure I got an experience I wouldn’t forget! I felt safe and really enjoyed my tour. I highly recommend!
Satish picked us from the hotel in a clean and comfortable air conditioned car. We visited some incredible places including a 3 billion year old rock in a 240 acre garden. We also visited a temple built with astronomical markers. The cave temple has a shiva lingam which gets illuminated by sunlight on certain days of the year. Satish was a magnificent host and guide and took us to a local eatery for the best sambar and dosa i have ever had! This heritage walk is fun and entertaining and ranks up right at the top of the best walks i have done anywhere in the world.
Chandrasekhar was a wonderful guide. He went out of his way to make sure we enjoyed the tour. To begin with, as we arrived by metro, that put us on the wrong side of Lalbagh Park from where we were supposed to meet. He brought his car around to pick us up. That was so appreciated! “Shekar” was a fountain of information, and yet still fun and enjoyable to listen to. I, an American English speaker and my three guests, French English speakers, had very little difficulty understanding his excellent English. He was so patient, though, the times we needed to ask him to repeat something. All of the stops were interesting and the way he described things helped us to understand how all the pieces of information and places we saw fit together to better know Banglore. After the end of our tour Shekar recommended a place to eat. From what he was describing I realized it was a Thali-style meal on a banana leaf. Though I have experienced this a couple of times in the past, I did not feel confident enough in my knowledge to adequately explain it to my French guests. I asked if it would be possible for him to accompany us and lend his knowledge. He said he could do that and I was very glad he joined us. I appreciate the Five Senses Travel Company who operate this tour because the cost covers all the entry tickets, and other expenses. (As lunch was not part of the tour, that was our expense). Altogether a wonderful experience.
Thanks for taking time out for this review. I am delighted you had a great time in this Sacred Bull Walk and enjoyed Chandrashekar's company! It was our pleasure.
The tour was very interesting The garden was beautiful The guide is passionate, he knows many things. Moreover, he has an English understandable by all. The meals he advised us were excellent. Very good activity. I recommend this tour.
I enrolled in the Sacred Bull Walk and it was quite an adventure. We came to bangalore on work and had a Sunday afternoon free. This 3 hour walk is a lovely way to understand and appreciate the local culture of bangalore. We visited a lovely garden where many poeple were exercising and doing yoga.i loved the 2 temples we visited where one had a Bull as the deity and the other was built in such a way that sun rays enter right inside a cave and magically light up the inside. Satish was a great guide who also arranged for us to grab a bite in a local joint. Amazing experience
Kalpana was such a fun interesting guide. She's a Bangalore native, keen to show the hidden real city (like the cave temple) and to explain the customs and quirks of this varied city. My quirky questions were answered with insight and often laughter. While advertised as a 3 hour trip at 4 hours 30 mins in she was just asking what I wanted to see next. A driver and air conditioned car whisked us between venues. I had so much more fun and was profoundly moved by the tour. I could not recommend her more highly
