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 Facts at a Glance
Area: 192,000 sq km
Population: 45 million
Capital city: Bangalore (pop 4.5 million)
Main languages: Kannada
Bangalore
The capital of Karnataka state is a thriving modern business centre, dubbed the `Silicon Valley' of India, whose gracious garrison town features are being re-modelled in the image of India's mall-loving middle class. It likes to think it's more in tune with Mumbai and Manhattan than the state it's located in, but has been scathingly described as a city 'in search of a soul'.
It's said to be one the fastest growing city in Asia, and considered to be India's yuppie heaven. The pace of life, like the intellectual and political climate, is brisk, and progressive social attitudes prevail. The downside is that growth has been so quick that power failures and road congestion are becoming increasing problems.
Tourist brochures are fond of calling Bangalore the 'Garden City', but nothing could be further from the truth. What the city does have to offer, apart from a congenial climate, is not to be found in its civic attractions: it's a useful transport centre, a good place to arrange trips to Karnataka's national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, and it's bars and restaurants can provide some much-needed light relief if you need a break from life on the road. While you're munching on pizza and sinking a few beers you can contemplate the pros and cons of modern India's confused but headlong rush into the 21st century.
The city's most impressive attraction is Vidhana Soudha. Built only in 1954, this overblown neo-Dravidian style granite parliament is considered to be one of India's most spectacular government buildings. Other attractions include shady Cubbon Park, Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, a small fort and Tipu Sultan's decaying wooden palace.
The MG Rd area is the retail, entertainment and social hub for the city's more affluent citizenry and for its student population. This is the bland, internationalised area people talk about when they call Bangalore 'yuppie heaven': it looks like a dozen other neighbourhoods in modern Asian cities that have been keen to adopt the ways of the West. Here you'll find a mixture of budget and luxury hotels, fast-food joints, restaurants, bars, travel agencies, airline offices, tourist information centres, bookshops and craft shops. The City Market area has more familiar Indian iconography and is a good place to stay if you want to avoid the glitz.
This charming, easy-going city has long been a favourite with travellers since it's a manageable size, enjoys a good climate and has chosen to retain and promote its heritage rather than replace it. The city is famous for its silk and is also a thriving sandalwood and incense centre, though don't expect the air to be any more fragrant than the next town.
Until Independence, Mysore was the seat of the maharajas of Mysore, a princely state covering about a third of present-day Karnataka. The Maharaja's Indo-Saracenic Palace is the town's major attraction, with its kaleidoscope of stained glass, ornate mirrors, carved mahogany ceilings, solid silver doors and outrageously gaudy colours.
The Devaraja Fruit & Vegetable Market, in the heart of the town, is one of the most colourful markets in India. The other major attraction is the 1000-step climb up nearby Chamundi Hill, which is topped by the huge Chamundeswari temple. The stairway is guarded by the famous 5m high Nandi (Siva's bull) carved out of solid rock. The 10-day Dussehra Festival in early October culminates in a spectacular procession of richly caparisoned elephants, liveried retainers, cavalry, brass bands and flower-bedecked images of Hindu deities.
The temples at Belur and Halebid are the cream of what remains of the Hoysala dynasty, one of the most artistically exuberant periods of Hindu culture. The sculptural decoration on these superb temples rivals the more famous temples of Khajuraho and the best of European Gothic art. Every single centimetre of the outside walls of the Hoysalswara Temple in Halebid is covered in an endless variety of Hindu deities, sages, dancers, hunters, warriors, stylised animals, gymnastic sexual acts and friezes depicting the life and times of Hoysala rulers. Much of the intricate sculptural work in the Channekeshava Temple in Belur decorates the internal supporting pillars and lintels; bring a torch to get a good view of the gods, goddesses and guardian beasts.
 Making music, Hoysaleswara Temple detail (19K) The Vijayanagar city ruins near the village of Hampi in central Karnataka are set in a magical, desolate landscape strewn with enormous, rounded boulders. If anywhere in India is comparable in mystique and romanticism to Macchu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes, then this is it. Once the capital of one of the largest empires in India, the city reached its peak in the 16th century when it covered 33 sq km, was surrounded by seven concentric fortifications and was reputed to be home to some half a million people. Its wealth was based on control of the spice and cotton trades and its bazaars were centres of international commerce. The empire came to a sudden end in 1565 when it was ransacked by the confederacy of Deccan sultans, opening up chunks of southern India to Muslim control.
The lunar landscape of Hampi offset by sunflowers (17K) The Virupaksha Temple's 52m gopuram dominates the village but the highlight is the Vittala Temple, one of only three World Heritage monuments in India. It's in a good state of preservation, although it was never finished or consecrated, and the sculptural work is incredible. The Achyutaraya Temple is also impressive and the Lotus Mahal, Elephants Stable, Royal Enclosure and Queen's Bath are icing on the cake. It's worth spending a couple of days exploring the ruins because the ancient Hampi Bazaar has been reoccupied and is now a bustling village and a favourite travellers' hangout. It has a large number of makeshift eateries and basic but atmospheric accommodation. The nearest town with facilities and transport connections is Hospet, 13km away.
Sadhus at Hampi (15K) Set among red sandstone hills, rock-hewn artificial lakes and peaceful farmlands, the modest village of Badami was once a capital city of the Chalukyan Empire which ruled much of the central Deccan between the 4th and 8th centuries. Its Dravidian temples and rock-cut caves inspired all subsequent Hindu empires which rose and fell in the south before the arrival of the Muslims. The cave temples are cut into a cliff face and connected by flights of steps. They display the full range of religious sects which have grown up on Indian soil and overlook the picturesque Agastyatirtha tank constructed in the 5th century. The nearby settlement of Aihole and Pattakadal have more fabulous examples of the Chalukyan's vigorous experimentation in temple architecture.
Modern Bijapur is a dull, undistinguished town but it is blessed by the scattered ruins and still-intact gems of 15th to 17th-century Muslim architecture, including mosques, mausoleums, palaces and fortifications. The austere grace of Bijapur's discoloured monuments is in complete contrast to the sculptural extravaganza of the Chalukyan and Hoysala temples further south. The two main tourist attractions are the Golgumbaz and Ibrahim Roza mausoleums. The Golgumbaz is a simple but mighty 17th-century building enclosing a majestic hall and capped by an enormous dome said to be second in size only to St Peter's in Rome. There's a Whispering Gallery around the base of the dome, whose acoustics are reputed to repeat any sound 10 times. Unfortunately, you won't be able to test this because the gallery is permanently full of wonderfully mischievous children running amok and screaming at the top of their voices.
Golgumbaz, Bijapur (16K)
The elegant and delicate Ibrahim Roza is considered to be one of the most finely proportioned Islamic monuments in the world. Its minarets are said to have inspired the Taj Mahal, and it has delicate stone filigree and decorative work. Other attractions include the 16th-century Jami-e-Masjid, the 17th century Hall of Justice, the fresco-decorated Asar Mahal, and the fragmented remains of the Citadel which once contained the palaces, pleasure gardens and Durbar Hall of the Adil Shahi kings.
Chandragupta Maurya, India's first great emperor, retreated to Sravanabelagola in the 3rd century BC after he had renounced worldly ways and embraced Jainism. Today, this cosy little town of chai shops and temples is one of the oldest and most important Jain pilgrimage centres in India, and the site of the huge, 17m high, 1000 year old statue of Lord Bahubali, said to be the world's largest monolithic statue. `Sravanabelagola' means monk on the top of the hill, and he's one big monk on top of one rocky hill. Get to the statue site early because you have to remove your shoes to enter, and scampering barefoot up 614 very hot rock-cut steps is sheer purgatory. The town's Chandragupta Basti Jain temple is believed to have been built by Emperor Ashoka. Its well-preserved paintings are like a 600-year-old comic strip of Jain stories.
The elevated market town of Madikeri is the capital of the Kodagu (Coorg) region, a cool green mountainous area in the south-west of Karnataka which is one of the most underrated scenic areas in India. Madikeri itself not a particularly pretty town, but it's a good base for organising treks and it's surrounded by picturesque hills where the roads are lined with hedgerows, flowering trees, spice plantations and coffee estates.
The locals are a nuggetty, proud people, distinct from their lowland neighbours, and are generally encountered wrapped in multiple layers of woollen clothing. If it seems a world apart from the rest of Karnataka, that's because Kodagu was a mini-state in its own right until 1956. Even today, there are still calls for an independent Kodagu homeland. The trekking season lasts from November to March and hikes of between two and 10 days can be organised. A guide is essential if you ever want to emerge from the forests.
The unspoilt town of Gokarna attracts an unlikely mixture of Hindu pilgrims, Sanskrit scholars, beach-loving travellers and a hardcore hippy element who shifted here when things got way uncool in Goa. It's a sleepy, charming town with a single ramshackle street composed entirely of Keralan-style wooden houses. It leads to the sacred [Mahabaleshwara Temple], home to a revered Siva lingam, and onward to the town beach.
Travellers have begun drifting into Gokarna lured by the stories of its deserted beaches, which rival anything Goa has to offer. The closest decent beach is Kudle Beach, a 20-minute walk to the south. A series of perfect half-moon beaches, hemmed in by headlands and backed by the foothills of the Western Ghats are a further hike to the south. There's adequate but limited accommodation in Gokarna and a couple of places to rent primitive adobe huts right on Kudle Beach.
This little-visited, walled town in the extreme north-eastern corner of the state was the capital of the Bahmani Kingdom from 1428, and later the capital of the Barid Shahi dynasty. It's a pleasant town with a splendid 15th-century fort containing the Ranjeenmahal, Chini Mahal and Turkish Mahal palaces. The impressiveKhwaja Mahmud Gawan Madrasa in the middle of town has a few colourful remains of typical Islamic mosaics. The huge, abandoned tombs of the Bahmani and Barid kings dot the countryside to the west and east of town, giving the area a desolate, mystical aura.
There are domestic flights from Bangalore to plenty of Indian cities. Most of Karnataka's rail system has been upgraded to broad gauge but there is still conversion work disrupting all rail traffic between Hassan and Mysore and Hassan and Mangalore. The new Konkan railway, linking Mangalore with Mumbai, follows Karnataka's little visited but picturesque coast. It is expected to be fully operational in mid-1997.
Bangalore is connected by direct daily express trains with all the main cities in southern and central India. It takes 42 hours to reach Delhi, 20 hours to Goa, 12 hours to Mumbai (Bombay) and seven hours to Madras. There are heaps of buses between Bangalore and Mysore and several express trains each day. Buses travel at horrifying speeds which cuts the 140km journey down to just three hours; trains also take three hours but are considerably safer. There are no flights to Mysore.
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Attractions
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