• Getting to IISc
• A Tour of the Campus
• Conference and Seminar Halls
• Health Centre
• Snacks on Campus
• Campus Entrances
• Buses
• Cab/Taxi
• Autos
• Shopping
• Eating Out
• Bookstores
• Movies
• Travel
• Useful Telephone Numbers

Getting to IISc

When coming to IISc, ask for Tata Institute (that's what IISc is commonly known as for historical reasons); that will get you to Prof. CNR Rao circle on your map. If that doesn't work, you should ask for Yeshwantpur circle or Yeshwantpur bus stand. From Yeshwantpur circle, follow National Highway Four (NH4) east toward Prof. CNR Rao circle. If you're on foot, you can enter campus at the small turnstile on the north side of the highway under the yellow over bridge: it brings you to the place marked Cosmetic Center on your map.

A Tour of Campus - View the IISc map

Here are some places on the campus that you might wish to visit during your stay at IISc. There's the Main Library, the Tata Book House, the Campus Bookstore (near the Cafe, open noon to 7 pm, except Sundays), the Xerox centres (in the library, near the Cafe and near TMC, open 8:30 am to 8:30 pm), two banks (Canara bank and SBI on your map), and a Health Centre (marked Hospital on your map). For outgoing phones, you may go to the STD/ISD booth west of Canara bank, or to the Telecom Centre (7 am to 10 pm, except Sundays). A new chip card type PCO has been installed at the U-block entrance and the telecom centre. You can prepay and buy the chip cards and use it for STD calls. The Post office (open 9-5 Mon-Sat) is approached from Prof. CNR Rao circle. It handles registered post, speed post, express mail, money order etc. in addition to regular mail. A small shopping centre (called the Cosmetic Center on your map) is open Mon-Sat and houses a small shop (7-11 am, 5-8 pm), a tailor (10 am-6 pm), a launderer (10 am-8 pm), a cobbler (8 am-8 pm), and a men's hairdresser (7 am-noon, 4-7:30 pm). The launderer, cobbler and hairdresser are also available Sunday mornings. There is a watch repair shop in E-Block (between 4-6 pm on all days except Sunday) and a cycle repair shop near U-Block and Ashok Pharma for medicines. There is also a small shopping area at the north end of campus, which has a tailor, travel agent and bookbinder. On the south side of the highway (please remember to use the yellow over-bridge to cross the highway) is the Gymkhana. Inside is a large hall for badminton, table tennis, and movies. In addition there is a carrom room and a TV room; upstairs is a small Library and a music room. Outside is a large playground, a running track and the Students Auditorium. At the Gymkhana, you can obtain permission to use the swimming pool located at the other end of campus.

Conference and seminar Halls ( refer the map for direction )

• Faculty Hall - 22932445
• Choksi Hall - 22932891
• Satish Dhawan Auditorium (CSIC) - 22932903
• J N Tata Auditorium - 22932236

Health Centre

The Health Centre of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore provides health care to the institute community comprising staff and students. A large number of the staff members and their families are residents in the campus. Though small in relative terms, the health centre is well equipped to undertake a number of clinical investigations and offers outpatient care as well as provides in-patient treatment. The Health Centre is located at the south-west end of the campus, close to the J N Center building, and opposite to the students' hostel.

More details click here

Snacks on campus

The Coffee Board (marked Cafe on your map, phone-2521) offers snacks and coffee from 9:30-6 on all days except Institute holidays, second Saturdays and Sundays. There's a Tea kiosk (phone-2872) next to the coffee board that functions from 3 pm till around midnight on all days including weekends. It is good for tea, coffee, samosas, pastries, etc. The TMSC canteen (marked TMC on your map) offers snacks, tea and coffee from 7 am to 6 pm on all days except Sundays. There is Snacks shop inside CEDT (opens on week days between 10:45 & 11:30 AM and 3 & 3:45 PM). There is a Nilgiris (Snack) shop in front of Faculty Club (open till 10 pm). The small shopping area at the far north end of the campus has a bakery and a fruit/vegetable shop.

Campus entrances

The big entrances are the ones at Prof. CNR Rao circle (all hours) and near Security (8 am to 10 pm on all days). Between CSIC auditorium and the Cafe there are gates that let you walk across the road, but please be careful crossing the highway! You should instead use the tunnel that has a walkway for pedestrians. If you walk south from CSIC auditorium (and around the ICE building), you will reach the ICE gate that lets you out next to the Circle at the Mariamma temple; this route leads out of campus towards Malleswaram. Near the Cosmetic Center there is a yellow pedestrian over bridge across National Highway four; it takes you to the Gymkhana and the D mess. There are other small entrances on the west side of campus. One of them is near R block: it leads to the Yeshwantpur toll gate bus stop and is also useful if you wish to walk to Yeshwantpur from the hostels. Another entrance is near D Mess; it's useful if you wish to walk to Yeshwantpur circle from the Gymkhana or D mess.

Buses

If you plan to take a bus into town, your best bet is to walk to Malleswaram 18th cross bus terminus or to Yeshwantpur bus terminus (2 minutes from D Mess through the turnstile). At the 18th cross bus stand, don't overlook the bus stop on Margosa road where many more buses stop. There is also a bus stop on the highway between the yellow overbridge and Prof CNR Rao circle, and another one at Prof. CNR Rao circle (on Sri C V Raman Road). Finally, there is a bus stop at Yeshwantpur tollgate, just off campus near R block. Most buses go to one of the places: Majestic also called Bangalore Bus Station (BBS) and renamed as the Kempe Gowda bus stand (KGBS). You can get a bus from here to pretty much anywhere in Bangalore. The intra-state and inter-state bus services also originate from here. The railway station is just opposite to Majestic bus stand. To go to Majestic, take any one of the following frequent buses: 252, 252E, 258C, 21 (Pushpak). Many buses that come to the 18th cross bus stand go to Majestic. Take bus numbers 1, 1E to go to the K. R. Market. Shivaji Nagar is a useful point to switch buses if you're heading toward East Bangalore. Frequent buses to this destination are 64 and 252A. Many buses that come to the bus stand opposite the post office go to Shivaji Nagar. Also, do look out for the newer Pushpak buses. They are light brown in colour. They are much quicker, more comfortable, less crowded but cost more. While returning to campus, do remember that IISc. is popularly called Tata Institute, and that the Malleswaram 18th cross and Yeshwantpur bus stands are nearby.

Cab/Taxi

You can arrange taxis from the campus by contacting one of the following call taxi agencies.

• Aishwarya Travels - 23374826 / 23477607
• Cabs centre - 23415080 / 23417058
• Gayathri Travels - 23327122 / 23520946
• Pushpak Travel Agents - 23417464 / 23415433
• Rathnagiri Travels - 23341011 / 23344952

Autos

Malleswaram 18th cross and Yeshwantpur circle are the best places to catch an auto rickshaw. But if you're lucky, you'll find an auto at Prof. CNR Rao circle or at Circle Mariamma temple. Remember that autos cost 50% more early mornings and at night.

Shopping

Campus is rather dead in the evenings and on weekends, so you might wish to venture out into Malleswaram or Yeshwantpur. The MG Road/ Brigade Road / Commercial Street / Kempe Gowda Road areas are the major shopping areas in Bangalore. Any Bangalore guide map will tell you where these places are located. Malleswaram is south of campus. Circle Mariamma temple is at the north end of Malleswaram. Streets are organised as north-south "mains" and east-west "crosses". The mains increase in number as you go west. Second main is actually called Sampige Road; third main is called Margosa road. These two mains are important: buses run on them, there are lots of shops (esp. on Sampige road) but they are one-way streets. The crosses increase in number as you come north, towards IISc. The 18th cross bus stand is a five-minute walk south from Circle Mariamma temple, and is located at 18th cross and Margosa. There's a nice shopping area centered at 8th cross and Sampige.

Eating Out

A sampling of the places you can go to near IISc for eating out is given below:

• Viking Restaurant - 8th Main, 16th Cross, Malleswaram
• New Krishna Bhavan - Sampige Road, Malleswaram
• Basil - Sampige Road, Malleswaram
• Shanti Sagar - Bashyam Circle
• Pizza Hut - Bashyam Circle

Bookstores

There are two bookstores on the campus, the Campus Bookstore (marked bookstore on your map) and the Tata Bookstore (marked TBS on the map). Both are located near the coffee board and offer 20% discount on books. You may also place an order for any book you need by filling up a form at these bookstores. There are several other bookstores in Bangalore. For technical books, you may visit Bangalore Book House ( Margosa Road, 17th Cross, Malleswaram), Sapna (Gandhinagar) and Gangarams (MG Road). For fiction and other non-technical books, good bookstores are the Bangalore Book House (Margosa Road, 17th Cross, Malleswaram), Strand (Manipal center) and Fountainhead (Lavelle Road).

Movies

The film society of the Institute screens good foreign films and award winning movies. There are several movie theatres in Bangalore, which screen English, Tamil, Telegu, Hindi and Kannada movies.

Travel

You can make flight reservations through Thomas Cook (located near the Campus Bookstore, phone no. 2699, 23601093, 23601094) or Jaybee travels (near Tata Bookstore, phone no. 23602311, 23602411, 2013). You can reserve your bus and train tickets through the travel agent (2466) in F-Block.

Useful Telephone Numbers

Please note that all four digit numbers starting with "2" (of the form 2xxx) are valid only within IISc. To call these numbers from outside IISc, prefix the number with "2293".