Exit through the gift shop

With my days in Bangalore rapidly diminishing, I figured it was about time to explore a bit more of the city I've called home for the last four weeks.

After initially being flat out with cricket coverage and then occupied with my work at the paper, I was yet to have a decent look around the place.

MG Road, I now know like the back of my hand, and there have been a couple of other excursions, but no actual exploration of a city big enough to house eight-and-a-half million people.

So that's what I thought I would do this past weekend - my last in India.

And that's what I did - kind of.

I haven't been on too many guided tours but I'm pretty sure it's a bad sign when the first thing the driver says to you is: 'Where do you want to go?'

It seemed my hotel - after assuring me they ran tours of Bangalore - more or less booked a car with a driver for the afternoon. I hadn't done my homework and failed to fashion much of a reply to my driver's query, so off we set on an extended and circuitous drive around Bangalore.
 
My 'guide' did pretty well given his lack of warning and fluency in English. The request was probably the last thing he had in mind when he picked me up, but he managed to take us to a few of the city's hotspots.

I was able to experience the contrast between UB City - a luxury mall boasting stores like Louis Vuitton - and the markets more associated with India - where I'm sure one could also find some supposed Louis Vuitton products.

Not one for shopping, neither location was the highlight of my tour. That accolade was easily claimed by a 20-metre tall god.

Visiting the Hindu temple on Airport Road was an incongruous experience. My driver and I originally joined the back of a queue which stretched some distance and had stalls on either side flogging all manner of religious idols.

But then he apparently found a shortcut and, for just Rs 50 (NZ$1.10), we were shown in through a back entrance.

The commercialism disappeared inside, replaced by a monumental statue of the supreme deity Shiva. The father of the distinctive elephant-headed Ganesha, Shiva is the most powerful god in Hinduism and the statue matched that status.

It's far too late now, but religion may have made a bigger impact on me if, instead of a shaggy-haired carpenter, someone like 20-metre Shiva was the primary subject of devotion in New Zealand. The guy meditates with snakes wrapped around his biceps and a python draped around his neck, all the while holding a trident and looking at total peace. What kid wouldn't want to worship him?

There are plenty in India who do, with more than 80 per cent of the population Hindu. Religion is an important part of the country's culture - with India the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism - and sites similar to 20-metre Shiva are common.

After snapping a few photos of the big man - an act which felt almost sacrilegious with so many around me praying - we collected our shoes and exited through yet more stalls with eager salesmen.

The tour may not have been exactly what I was expecting but my driver and I had an enjoyable afternoon, and we'll always have 20-metre Shiva.