Vidhana Soudha

Worth seeing when you're there

• The grand western entrance with its steps and the carved granite columns, in the Neo-Dravidian style of a South Indian temple at ministry scale.
• The statues on the lawn in front, and the inscription over the main doors.
• The dome and the Ashoka emblem above it.
• The view back across Dr Ambedkar Veedhi to the High Court: red colonial brick versus grey temple-revival granite, deliberately.

A little history

Conceived by Chief Minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah as a people's palace in local granite, and completed in 1956, Vidhana Soudha was intentionally designed to look grander than the British-built court across the street. Some 5,000 workers and stone carvers shaped its columns and stairs from granite quarried at Mallasandra outside the city.

Getting there, hours, cost

Vidhana Soudha Metro is beside it; from Cubbon Park Metro it is a ten-minute walk via the GPO. The exterior and the lawn are viewable from the public road at any time. Going inside means a guided tour on specific days with prior registration.

Open

Guided tours 8 AM to 5 PM on Sundays and 2nd and 4th Saturdays

Closed

All other days (exterior viewable anytime)

Cost

₹50, prior registration, no walk-in

Note

Recheck the tour schedule close to your date.

Hours change. Recheck official sources close to your date. Navigate here · Trail map

Nearby: eat, see, rest

• Coorg Story's filter coffee Coffee · 9 min on foot
• Venkatappa Art Gallery Gallery · 10 min on foot
• Government Museum, Kasturba Road Museum · 10 min on foot
• Namma Bengaluru Aquarium Aquarium · 11 min on foot

More on the trail map and in A Cubbon Park walk.