Bengaluru (Bangalore)

The capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, Bengaluru blooms with jacaranda and flame trees, their vibrant flowers contrasting with the grimy maze of India’s third-largest city. The Lalbagh Botanical Garden is renowned in India for its glass houses and annual flower show. Known more as a hub of the country’s IT industry than as a tourist draw, Bengaluru is the headquarters of Infosys and home to the renowned Indian Institute of Science. Hindu temples, parks and shopping malls abound, with antiquity and modernity somehow achieving a harmonious coexistence.