Bengaluru (Bangalore)

This is a time to celebrate India because next year there will be more Indians in the world than anyone else.

The history of India seems to revolve much more around the northern part of the country, as that is where new people such as the Aryans and Mughals entered, than the southern part of the country. The world-famous Taj Mahal, the capital of New Delhi, the financial center of Mumbai and, the Sikh religious center of Amritsar, are all in the northern part of the country.

But yet it is the far southern city of Bangalore that is, in many ways, the focal point of modern India. I am going to refer to it as Bangalore because, unlike Mumbai, the correct Indian name of Bengaluru is not well-known outside India. Bangalore is located in the heat of southern India, but is at a considerably high altitude which makes it more comfortably cool.

Bangalore is where India's space agency is located, the launch site is on the east coast but the headquarters are in the city. It is also the aeronautic and aerospace center of the country. It is known across the world as India's IT and software hub. Bangalore is also known as India's "Science City". It may not have the Taj Mahal, but it is leading India into the future.

Space missions to Mars have a high casualty rate. It is more difficult to get to Mars than to Venus, because Mars if further from the sun than earth. To get to Venus, it is necessary only to fire retro rockets so that the spacecraft loses the orbital momentum that it began with as part of the earth, and the sun's gravity will do the rest. If the timing is right, the spacecraft will fall into orbit around Venus.

India remains the first country to launch a successful Mars mission on it's first attempt. It has a spacecraft in Mars orbit, unfortunately the news came this week that the spacecraft has run out of fuel and contact has been lost with it but it far exceeded all expectations.

From Bangalore, a spacecraft had earlier been put into orbit around the moon. From that spacecraft, a projectile spacecraft was purposely crashed into the moon, at it's south pole, so that the lunar debris that flew up from the collision could be analyzed. Communication was later lost with the main spacecraft, but NASA has located it still in orbit around the moon.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

Let's begin with an image of Niagara Falls, all the way in Bangalore.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.97263,77.530895,3a,75y,1h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOZnhXiJS3JtT7Qwlej8ElihvcSr4mXUDM7Jopw!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOZnhXiJS3JtT7Qwlej8ElihvcSr4mXUDM7Jopw%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya350.5-ro-0-fo100!7i7168!8i3584

Here is the area around Bangalore Fort.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.9629824,77.575845,3a,75y,138.6h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNcqF3p7bn3ATGgG7R4ysx0u3WLglPfwJEHcPx_!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNcqF3p7bn3ATGgG7R4ysx0u3WLglPfwJEHcPx_%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya108.33092-ro-0-fo100!7i4608!8i2304

This is the Kempegowda area, in central Bangalore. This is named for the founder of the city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.9768605,77.5723066,3a,75y,126.86h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM1ZWLlhaUCiBHtPFP0u5SawNWgqaN_Qb1LAd6X!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM1ZWLlhaUCiBHtPFP0u5SawNWgqaN_Qb1LAd6X%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya51.578754-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

This is the area around St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. Southern India has a significant Christian presence. Around the year 1500, Vasco da Gama and missionaries like Francis Xavier thought that they were bringing Christianity to the east. They were greatly surprised to find that Christianity had already been in India for well over a thousand years. It is believed that the Apostle Thomas, the one sometimes referred to as "Doubting Thomas", went to India and established a church.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.9922717,77.6106083,3a,75y,132.03h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOhz0osu2Z9g2PAgKBGLy0iADX1EiWMn9Gsi36R!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOhz0osu2Z9g2PAgKBGLy0iADX1EiWMn9Gsi36R%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya184.7718-ro0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

This is around the City Market area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.9683835,77.5777989,3a,75y,272.03h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM2Bamimx1VqNBW1nLgdX_IBnvpewIYHTR65kVl!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM2Bamimx1VqNBW1nLgdX_IBnvpewIYHTR65kVl%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya169.29172-ro-0-fo100!7i5660!8i2830

This is the area of St. Mark's Cathedral.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.9759655,77.5995636,3a,75y,103.77h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNuJP0Eti2MHuttMguDwU2NhtXZDGqqjQTR_9ME!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNuJP0Eti2MHuttMguDwU2NhtXZDGqqjQTR_9ME%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya242.85367-ro0-fo100!7i9728!8i4864

Here is the administrative and government center of Bangalore.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.9791231,77.5914688,3a,75y,152.71h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNVZWrRggSgQQx92PbpcXftJapw2YZXghOvvs2l!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNVZWrRggSgQQx92PbpcXftJapw2YZXghOvvs2l%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya203.30556-ro0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

This is a business and residential area, to the west of the city center.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.9732089,77.5296489,3a,75y,52h,84t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOszulo7_SewieFDFHPnHfzHA5qN7yVjakVjmQl!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOszulo7_SewieFDFHPnHfzHA5qN7yVjakVjmQl%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-6.286888-ya206.5-ro-0-fo100!7i2535!8i1240

This is an area to the south of the city center.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.937932,77.578721,3a,75y,28h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMqTj-_wN1J_tIOxSrLKEgL2Gh--pjabbYrCJf6!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMqTj-_wN1J_tIOxSrLKEgL2Gh--pjabbYrCJf6%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya218.5-ro0-fo100!7i6656!8i3328

This is a newer part of the city, where many IT and software companies are headquartered. You may well have already talked to someone in Bangalore, when calling customer service or tech support.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.9226,77.592785,3a,75y,97h,84t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPGQSdl7yVAY2oxh4ypPi6d2G8zBOeyahUjF1Ko!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPGQSdl7yVAY2oxh4ypPi6d2G8zBOeyahUjF1Ko%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-6.941883-ya97.5-ro-0-fo100!7i10776!8i5388