Girinagar (formerly known as Writer's Colony) is a residential area in South West Bengaluru, very close to
Mysore Road
State Highway 17 (SH-17) is a state highway connecting the cities of Bangalore and Mysore in the south Indian state of Karnataka. The highway has a total length of . It was built and maintained by the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Lim ...
. This medium-sized locality is surrounded by
Nayandahalli
Nayandahalli is a locality in South Bangalore, India. It is located along the Mysore Road (SH-17). It is bordered by Banashankari, Rajarajeshwari Nagar and the Bangalore University campus (Jnanabharati).
It is a major transport junction in Ban ...
in the west, Byatarayanapura and Deepanjali Nagar in the north, Srinagar and
Banashankari
Banashankari, abbreviated as BSK, is a locality in South Bangalore. It gets its name from the Banashankari Amma Temple on Kanakapura Road, one of Bangalore's oldest and well known temples constructed by Subramanya Shetty in 1915.
Banashan ...
in the east and Hosakerehalli in the south.
Etymology
Girinagar was named after the former
President of India
The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...
V. V. Giri
Varahagiri Venkata Giri (; 10 August 1894 — 24 June 1980) was an Indian politician and activist from Berhampur in Odisha who served as the 4th president of India from 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974. He also 3rd vice president of India from ...
and also because of the Hirannayya Gudda (Hill). Giri in Sanskrit means hill.
Geography
Girinagar is at a lower altitude (865 m) compared to the rest of Bengaluru, which has an average elevation of 900 m. It is very hilly, with steep roads – being on the slope of a hill with a plateau on top. To the west of Girinagar is a hill, known as ''Hirannayya Gudda'' in Kannada. Girinagar lies in the ''
Vrishabhavathi Valley'' region of Bengaluru.
Girinagar is divided into 4 phases, with the 2nd phase being the largest. It also subsumes areas such as T Block, Muneshwara Block, Nagendra Block, Avalahalli, Ganapathi Nagar and Chamundi Nagar.
Culture
Girinagar is one of the older areas of Bengaluru, with a predominantly
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
speaking population. The population is also predominantly
Hindu.
Being in Southwest Bengaluru, Girinagar is well connected to the central Bengaluru. However, with several major employers opening offices in South Bengaluru, and with a series of new malls and multiplexes coming up in its vicinity, Girinagar has maintained its desirability for the upwardly-mobile, family-oriented audience. In other words, it retains the culture and traditions of Bengaluru being solely occupied by families living in the city for more than a century.
Educationcal institutions
There are many schools including Vijayabharthi Vidyalaya, Auden Public School, Shantiniketan and St. Muller Public School, St Michel's English School. Pre University Colleges include Vijaya Bharati PU College and Narayana PU College. Girinagar is also close to several engineering Colleges
Rashtriya Vidyalaya College of Engineering,
PES Institute of Technology,
RNSIT, and
BMSCE. Girinagar has Aksharam, a well known Sanskrit Institution, right next to the Raghavendra Mutt.
Administration
Girinagar lies in the
Bengaluru South
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
parliamentary constituency. The incumbent Member of Parliament of Bengaluru South is Shri. Tejasvi surya (
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
). Most of Girinagar lies in the
Basavanagudi
Basavanagudi is a residential and commercial locality in the Indian city of Bangalore. It is located in South Bangalore, along the borders of Jayanagar. The name "Basavanagudi" refers to the Bull Temple, which contains a monolith statue of the N ...
assembly constituency. The incumbent Member of Legislative assembly is Shri. Ravi Subramanya (BJP), who resides in Girinagar. However the part of Girinagar north of 50 Feet Road viz. Avalahalli, 3rd Phase, Muneshwara Block and Ganapathi Nagar sub localities lies in the
Vijayanagar
The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and M ...
assembly constituency. The current sitting Member of Legislative assembly is Shri.
M. Krishnappa (
INC).
Girinagar is also a ward in the Bengaluru South zone of the
BBMP
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is the administrative body responsible for civic amenities and some infrastructural assets of the Greater Bengaluru metropolitan area. It is the fourth largest Municipal Corporation in India an ...
(ward no. 162). It ranges from Nagendra Block in the east to Hosakerehalli Road in the west, from 50 Feet Road in the north to ORR in the south.
[BBMP Elections – Ward information for Girinagar ward](_blank)
Bbmpelections.in. Retrieved on 28 September 2011. and spans 1.77 km
2. The ward has been reserved for women
and the current corporator is Smt. H.S. Lalitha (BJP).
However the northernmost part of Girinagar (north of 50 Feet road) lies in the Deepanjali Nagar ward (ward no. 158), also in the Bengaluru South Zone
[BBMP Elections – Ward information for Deepanjali Nagar ward](_blank)
Bbmpelections.in. Retrieved on 28 September 2011. and spans 2.09 km
2.
This ward is also reserved for women and the current corporator is Smt. Malathi (BJP).
Transportation
Girinagar is one of the better-known areas of Bengaluru and most modes of transport in Bengaluru will get you in and out of Girinagar, including
public buses,
autorickshaw
An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many terms in various countries including auto, auto rickshaw, baby taxi, mototaxi, pigeon, jonnybee, baja ...
s and
taxicab
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choi ...
s.
The main roads of Girinagar are a) 50 Feet Road (connecting the ORR to Basavanagudi), b) 80 Feet Road (connecting Hosakerehalli Road to Nagendra Block), c) Nehru Road (connecting 50 Feet Road to Girinagar 2nd phase) and d) Hosakerehalli Road (connecting Mysore Road to the ORR).
Arterial road
An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector ...
s like Mysore Road and the ORR are just 1 km from Girinagar.
Girinagar is well connected by
BMTC buses from
Majestic and
Shivajinagar. The buses are not very frequent but regular. The routes from
Majestic are 10 (
Marcopolo
Thor (previously known as Marcopolo) is a family of satellites designed, launched and tested by Hughes Space and Communications (now part of Boeing Satellite Systems) for British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB), and were used for Britain's Direc ...
AC route), 36A, 36B, 36E, and 36G which can be boarded from platform 10 in
Majestic. The routes from
Shivajinagar are 37E and 37F, which can be boarded from platform 10 in
Shivajinagar.
References
{{Neighbourhoods of Bangalore
Neighbourhoods in Bangalore