Bangalore - Suggestions

Listed below are some art, culture, food, religious options that i have personally enjoyed living in Bangalore over the last three decades. The list is not exhaustive but includes only those that i have tried out. Personally i look for value, functionality, economy options and disregard ambience, hype etc., I have had some of my best experiences for free or for very little price.

PS: Good sources for local listings are Deccan Herald, The Hindu and Times of India in the city today pages and all of them have weekly round up pages as well

Music

• Seshadripuram Ramaseva Mandali, Seshadripuram college, Ramanavami season, April - May
• Sree RamaSeva Mandali, Fort High School, Chamarajpet, Ramanavami season, April - May
• Sri Odakkatur Mutt, Ulsoor, Shivarathri, Krishnashtami seasons
• Bangalore Gayana Samaja, K R Road : check local listings
• Ananya, 13th cross, Malleshwaram
• R T Nagar Sangeeth Sabha
• Indiranagar Sangeeth Sabha
• Devagiri Sangeetha Sabha
• Raj Mahal Vilas Sangeetha Sabha
  

Theatre

• Rangashankara : Plays round the year, Mondays off
• H. N. Kalakshetra, Jayanagar: Look at the local listings, have kannada plays regularly
• Ravindra Kalakshetra : Look at the local listings, have kannada plays regularly
• ADA Rangamandira: Look at the local listings, have kannada plays regularly
• Chowdiah Memorial Hall: Look at the local listings, have plays around weekends but not really value for money

Cinema

• www.collectivechaos.org, a non profit forum to promote meaningful cinema, do not have a personal experience yet
• Suchitra

Food

• MTR (Mavalli Tiffin Rooms), Lalbagh Road
  
• Krishna Cafe, Koramangala
• Kamat Yatri Nivas, Gandhinagar, Jayanagar and JC Road, North Karnataka Jowar Roti meal
  
• Pai Refreshments, Ananda Rao Circle, North Karnataka Jowar Roti meal
• Hotel Brindavan, MG Road
  
• Food Street at V.V. Puram
• Churmuri (kind of South Indian Bhel puri) joints at Sajjan Rao Circle, Avenue Road-Mysore Bank junction, off Residency Road on the LIC office cross road
• Chaats near Seshadripuram College, Nehru Circle
• Sree raj Lassi Bar at several locations across bangalore - Shivajinagar, off Brigade road, Jayanagar, R T Nagar, Gandhinagar, for lassi, kulfi, mango milk shake
• Deepa Stores, 15th cross, Margosa Road, Malleshwaram, for Idlis
• Janata Hotel, 8th cross, between Margosa road and Sampige Road, Malleshwaram for Masala Dosas with carnatic music
• Vidyarthi Bhavan, Gandhi Bazaar
  
• Amruth Ice Cream Parlour, 13th cross, between Margosa Road and 8th main, Malleshwaram, Vegetarian Ice creams
• Hotel Ajantha, MG Road, for mini idlis
• VB Bakery, Sajjan Rao Circle, Fruit cakes, Rusks, Bun Butter Jam and several other bakery items inc
  

Religion

• Sri Sankar Mutt, Sankarapuram, near Chamarajpet
• Sri Ganapathi Temple, BEL Colony, Jalahalli
• ISKCON Temple, West of Chord Road, - special attraction daily prasadam
• Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy Temple, 11th Cross, Malleshwaram
• Sri Raja Rajeshwari Temple, Raja Rajeshwari Nagar,
  
• Haji Tawakkal Mastan Dargah on OTC road, near Majestic,

Recommendations

Movies

• Taayi Saheba, Language: Kannada, Director: Girish Kasaravalli
• Dweepa, Language: Kannada, Director: Girish Kasaravalli
• Nizhalkuthu, Language: Malayalam, Director: Adoor Gopalakrishnan
• Kanoor Heggadathi, Language: Kannada, Director: Girish Karnad
• Gandhi, Language: English, Director: Richard Attenborough
• Piravi, Language: Malayalam, Director: Shaji Karun
• Pather Panchali, Language: Bengali, Director: Satyajit Ray

Television

• Malgudi Days - TV series, Language: Hindi, Director: Shankar Nag

Theatre/Dramas/Plays/Folk Arts

• Odakalu Bimba, Language: Kannada, Director: Girish Karnad & Chaitanya
• Typical T. P. Kailasam, Language: Kannada,
• Charan Das Chor, Language: Chattisgarhi, Director: Habib Tanvir
• Agra Bazaar, Language: Urdu, Director: Habib Tanvir