Talk:Bangalore Voyage Tips and guide

This article was the Collaboration of the week between 13 Mar 2006 and 19 Mar 2006.

Archived discussions Talk:Bangalore/Archive 2005-2011 Talk:Bangalore/Archive 2012-2022

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Language has become a burning issue in Bangalore recently, with locals encouraging and even imposing Kannada to outsiders, especially those from North Indian states. I have learnt that while many auto drivers in Bangalore understand languages like English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, some don't like to communicate in languages other than Kannada, which is problematic for outsiders. So where should I mention the language issues with auto drivers in Bangalore, "Talk" or "By auto-rickshaw"? Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 03:35, 18 November 2024 (UTC)Reply

Off-topic, but the promotion (and possible imposition) of Kannada in Karnataka has probably led to Bangalore being officially renamed to "Bengaluru", Mysore to "Mysuru", Shimoga to "Shivamogga", Belgaum to "Belagavi", Gulbarga to "Kalaburagi", Chikmagalur to "Chikkamagaluru", Hubli to "Hubballi", and so on, back in 2007. However, most English outlets continue using old names for 17 years and counting (except "Gulbarga", which is found mostly in historical discourse). Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 03:44, 18 November 2024 (UTC)Reply

Yes, absolutely mention the language issue in the "Talk" section. In terms of names, we go by the name that's most used in English, but if this might cause issues for travelers, it should be mentioned somewhere, probably "Understand" but maybe "Respect." Ikan Kekek (talk) 03:57, 18 November 2024 (UTC)Reply

The local name is mentioned in parenthesis on the first line of the article leads (I changed to that format in this article) and as the alt parameter in listings. The discussion can be in one of those other sections, but isn't needed for every city article, having it here probably suffices. –LPfi (talk) 07:21, 18 November 2024 (UTC)Reply

The English Wikipedia article Bangalore was recently renamed to Bengaluru as per Talk:Bengaluru#Requesting move from Bangalore to Bengaluru. Most recent media outlets are using the name "Bengaluru", especially in India. So, I propose to rename this article to Bengaluru as well. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 11:06, 22 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

Any objections regarding changing the article name to Bengaluru as per the arguments at Talk:Bengaluru#Requesting move from Bangalore to Bengaluru? Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 17:55, 22 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

• Support This was argued 15 times at Wikipedia. I don't think we will come up with better arguments than they did. A traveller visiting India will have to get comfortable with Bengaluru, and that is clearly where the English language is headed. There is no value in dragging our heels here. Ground Zero (talk) 18:22, 22 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

Policy is to use the commonest English name. My guess would be that that is still Bangalore. Pashley (talk) 18:27, 22 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

“

Policy is to use the commonest English name.

”

I agree. But considering the usage of the terms in reliable media over the past 10 years, I think "Bengaluru" trumps over "Bangalore". And by reliable media, I don't mean the men in the street calling the city "Bangalore" in random talks or texts. I mean the websites travellers may encounter while searching their destinations. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 18:50, 22 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

Wikipedia policy is also to use the commenest English name, and the Wikipedia community has concluded after lengthy debate that it is Bengaluru. Ground Zero (talk) 20:55, 22 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

Ten days are elapsed, and I think we should close this discussion to rename to "Bengaluru" as it satisfies either of the two policies listed at Anc:

• "articles should use the city, region or country name most commonly used in English-speaking countries" – "Bengaluru" is one of the the most commonly used English names for the destination, as determined by Wikipedians at Talk:Bengaluru#Requesting move from Bangalore to Bengaluru.
• "[a]n alternative policy for article naming is to use the destination's official name. Often, the official name is also the most common English name, so there's no problem." – "Bengaluru" (yes, just "Bengaluru") is the official name of the destination, as well as one of the most commonly used English names.

Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 12:33, 1 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

Just a small detail: Unlike Wikipedia, we never close discussions on Wikivoyage, with the exception of time-bound ones like deletion request threads; we just make decisions, and if a discussion is inactive for a long period, we may archive it to decrease clutter on a talk page. For my part, I don't know whether Wikipedians made the right decision, but I keep in mind that India is the most populous English-speaking country in the world, and of course the precedents with Kolkata and Mumbai are obvious. Ikan Kekek (talk) 15:48, 1 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

Bangalore seems to be the most commonly used name in English-speaking countries, although the official name was changed and is more common in India. I think it would be of most service to international travelers to leave the name as Bangalore for now and re-visit the question in another decade or so. Mrkstvns (talk) 18:50, 8 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

The discussion at Wikipedia provides evidence on both sides about which name was more commonly used, and concluded by changing the article name to Bengaluru. I don't think it is a good use of time to repeat the statistical analysis done at Wikipedia, but I don't accept the unsupported claim that "Bangalore seems to be the most commonly used name in English-speaking countries". Ground Zero (talk) 00:25, 9 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

Remember that India is an English-speaking country, Indians are undoubtedly the most numerous nationality of visitors, and a lot of Indian visitors to this city might consult Wikivoyage. Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:31, 8 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

Yeah which is why I'm going to go neutral on this one. Unlike other cities like Kolkatta or Chennai, I've heard Bangalore being used more outside India, but Bengaluru almost exclusively within India – though this is all just personal observation. If anything, I lean towards renaming rather than keeping, but it would be good to get some more opinions on this. //shb (t | c | m) 00:37, 9 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

@Mrkstvns, SHB2000: It looks like "Bengaluru" is common in India, but "Bangalore" in Outdia. Therefore, we should adhere to the national English dialect, as per the spirit of WV:Spelling, where it is "Bengaluru". We can start this article as "Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore", and I have added a note in the "Name" section to recommend that visitors use the name "Bengaluru" within the city. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 02:39, 9 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

Gonna lean oppose for this as per Google Trends search data mentioned by JavaHurricane. //shb (t | c | m) 06:19, 9 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

• Oppose as Bangalore remains overwhelmingly the common name within even India, let alone elsewhere. See this Google Trends graph for searches from within India. JavaHurricane 06:16, 9 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

Comment — @JavaHurricane, SHB2000: Regarding the Google Trends, I am going to say that there has been an extensive analysis regarding which one is common at Talk:Bengaluru#Requesting move from Bangalore to Bengaluru. It shows how the usage difference between the names "Bangalore" and "Bengaluru" is narrowing since 2014, which indicates that the name "Bengaluru" is becoming more common over time. The higher frequency of the name "Bangalore" may also be related to the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), which became Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 2024. Another theory is that the name "Bangalore" is used to boost the SEO rankings of certain websites. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 08:20, 9 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

I'd argue that while we do require the most common name similar to Wikivoyage, the metric to determine what it exactly is can differ. Search engine results matter a lot more on Wikivoyage, particularly because this site was – and still is, to a significant extent – affected by a search engine optimisation penalty. If Bangalore is the most common search trend on Google (within India, let alone the rest of the world), it likely highlights that someone is more likely to find this page under Bangalore than Bengaluru. //shb (t | c | m) 09:21, 9 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

@Sbb1413: the Google Trends graph above covers a time after the renaming of the team, and therefore is arguably not contributing to any increases in the frequency of "Bangalore". As for the SEO argument, I find little persuasive arguments presented in favour of that in the enwiki discussion. As for the discussion on enwiki, I would have opposed the move had I known that the RM had been opened at the time, and I note that a couple of users had bludgeoned the discussion significantly with arguments I did not find to be persuasive at all. Something that, I think, you may yourself want to be wary of here. JavaHurricane 09:24, 9 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

• Support. Yes Bangalore is commonly used, but so is Bengaluru. It can be made clear in the article that Bangalore (which to me is becoming increasingly archaric) is still quite common. Leaderboard (talk) 08:39, 12 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
• Oppose - While Bengaluru is hardly uncommon, I still feel like Bangalore is "the most commonest" name, therefore, no name change. Mrkstvns (talk) 21:10, 17 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

The current banner of Bengaluru does not reflect the city, which is associated with modernity rather than religion. The temple depicted is not well-known to outsiders. To better represent the city, I suggest the skyline of the city centre as the banner. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 11:20, 22 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

• Support the proposed banner once it's cropped to 7:1 dimensions. //shb (t | c | m) 12:01, 22 May 2025 (UTC)Reply
• Support the proposed banner, when cropped. Ground Zero (talk) 12:05, 22 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

I now prefer proposal 2. Ground Zero (talk) 01:12, 2 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

• Support, reluctantly. I do not much like the proposed banner, though it is an improvement. I find most skyline photos profoundly boring & rather generic, with nothing specific to the city in question. Can anyone do better? Pashley (talk) 00:36, 23 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

  @Pashley, SHB2000, Ground Zero: I think the skyline can be cropped to focus on UB City. In the proposed banner, UB City is at the left. I have added other proposals that focus more on some of Bengaluru's famous attractions. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 09:11, 27 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

  I think I now favour the original proposal (UB City), the second proposal and then the current banner – mainly because the 2nd doesn't highlight Bangalore's modernity. //shb (t | c | m) 09:58, 27 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

  Yeah, but Vidhana Soudha is sometimes used as a symbol for the whole city, and that's why it is my another proposed banner. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 08:13, 28 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

  My 2 cents: On a purely visual basis, my ratings are 2, 1, 0. Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:41, 1 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

• Comment – The skyline photo with Kingfisher Tower was a good candidate, but as it comes from a problematic source, I have removed it from my list of proposals.. --Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 09:40, 27 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

• Support - the second proposal is visually interesting. I think it's a bit improvement over the original (image 0). Mrkstvns (talk) 12:38, 9 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

This article is long. Would it be helpful to divide the city into districts on this site, or are most of the attractions in one or two areas that couldn't realistically be subdivided? Ikan Kekek (talk) 19:43, 22 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

Map of Bangalore

@Ikan Kekek: I have just planned to divide the city into four districts: Central, East, North and South. The plan is at commons:Data:Wikivoyage/Bangalore.map. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 16:53, 23 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

My proposal is mostly based on the old map File:Bangalore (Baedeker, 1914).jpg, as well as the taluks of Bengaluru Urban district. I have included most of area of the old map into Central Bangalore, except Lal Bagh, the palace and the Ulsoor Lake, which are included in neighbouring districts. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 16:56, 23 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

I am also thinking of including Bangalore Rural as a district of Bangalore, as it is more like a northern extension to the city. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 17:23, 23 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

I have included both Bangalore Rural and Ramanagara as my proposed Bangalore districts, since both belongs to the Bangalore metro area. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 18:22, 23 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

Great! Please go ahead. Ikan Kekek (talk) 19:48, 23 June 2025 (UTC)Reply

Thanks. I'm implementing it soon. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 02:57, 24 June 2025 (UTC)Reply