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Cubbon Park

#2of 8 places to visit in BengaluruBengaluru, Karnataka

Also known as Sri Chamarajendra Park · Meade's Park

Quick answer

Opening hours: 05:00–08:00. Entry is free. Allow 1.5 hrs. Best time: 05:30 – 08:00.

Updated 18 September 2026 · Compiled by Traveliac, AI-assisted · 5 min read

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Photo: Augustus Binu/ facebook / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Opening hours: 05:00–08:00; Open to pedestrians at all hours; internal roads are closed to motor vehicles 05:00 – 08:00 daily and, per some reports, through Sunday for a car-free walking and cycling window.
Entry fee: Free
Time needed: 1.5 hrs
Best time of day: 05:30 – 08:00
Best months: Oct – Mar
Address: Kasturba Road, Sampangi Rama Nagara, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001

About Cubbon Park

Cubbon Park spreads across 300 acres in the middle of Bengaluru, laid out in 1870 by Major General Richard Sankey, then chief engineer of Mysore State, on a plot first known as Meade's Park after acting commissioner John Meade. The park was renamed Sri Chamarajendra Park in 1927 in honour of the Mysore maharaja, though Cubbon Park — after Sir Mark Cubbon, the longest-serving British commissioner of Mysore — remains the name everyone in the city actually uses. Roughly 6,000 trees spanning close to a hundred species grow across the grounds, from silver oak and gulmohar avenues to stands of bamboo and mahogany planted during Sankey's original layout. The park doubles as an open-air museum of Bengaluru's colonial-era civic architecture. Attara Kacheri, a red neoclassical building completed in 1864, now houses the Karnataka High Court at the park's northern boundary. The Seshadri Iyer Memorial Hall, built in 1915, holds the State Central Library, and the octagonal bandstand near the Government Museum still hosts occasional public performances. None of these buildings requires a separate approach — all sit inside or immediately beside the park's own paths.

Best time of day: 05:30 – 08:00. When the internal roads are vehicle-free and joggers, yoga groups, and cyclists have the avenues to themselves.

Cubbon Park timings

Opening hours: 05:00–08:00; Mon–Sun 05:00–08:00; Open to pedestrians at all hours; internal roads are closed to motor vehicles 05:00 – 08:00 daily and, per some reports, through Sunday for a car-free walking and cycling window.
Closed on: Open every day

Mon–Sun	05:00–08:00

Opening hours compiled from horticulturedir.karnataka.gov.in and public records, last updated 18 September 2026. They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides

Cubbon Park ticket price

Entry fees for Cubbon Park
Ticket	Price
Indian visitors	Free
Foreign visitors	Free
Children	Free
Camera	Free

No entry fee. Cubbon Park is an open, unwalled public park crossed by city roads, so there is no ticket gate; the surrounding Government Museum, Venkatappa Art Gallery, and Visvesvaraya Museum charge their own separate entry fees. Commercial photography, filming, and drone use require separate permission from the Horticulture Department, as of 2026.

Prices compiled from horticulturedir.karnataka.gov.in and public records, last updated 18 September 2026. They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides

Best time to visit Cubbon Park

Quiet
Moderate
Busy

05:00 – 08:00
Vehicle-Free Morning
Roads close to cars; regular joggers, cyclists, and yoga groups fill the avenues. Quietest light for photography of the bandstand and Attara Kacheri façade.
Moderate
08:00 – 12:00
Late MorningBest time to go
Office traffic picks up on the surrounding roads but foot traffic inside the park thins out. Museum-goers begin arriving toward the southern cluster.
Quiet
12:00 – 16:00
Midday Lull
Heat keeps casual visitors away; shaded benches under the mahogany and rain-tree avenues stay in use by office workers on lunch breaks.
Quiet
16:00 – 19:00
Evening Peak
Families, students, and couples fill the lawns and paths as temperatures drop. Weekend evenings draw the year's heaviest footfall, especially near the bandstand.
Busy

History of Cubbon Park

Richard Sankey's 1870 layout took an existing patch of open ground beside the Residency and turned it into a formal English-style park, with curving carriage roads and lawns designed for the horse-drawn traffic of Bengaluru's colonial administrative quarter. The choice of site was deliberate: the park sits adjacent to Attara Kacheri and the old Public Offices, placing recreation directly next to the machinery of Mysore state government, a spatial relationship that survives today with the Karnataka High Court and Vidhana Soudha both within walking distance of the park's paths.

The 1927 renaming to Sri Chamarajendra Park, after the Mysore maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar, never displaced the original name in everyday use, and both names appear on official signage and documents to this day. Over the twentieth century the park absorbed the Government Museum (1876), the Venkatappa Art Gallery, and eventually the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum (1962) along its southern flank, turning what began as an ornamental garden into Bengaluru's densest single cluster of public cultural institutions. The Department of Horticulture, which also manages Lalbagh, has run the grounds since the transition to state administration after independence.

Rules & etiquette at Cubbon Park

Cubbon Park's internal roads close to motor vehicles daily between 05:00 and 08:00, reserving the avenues for walkers, joggers, and cyclists; pedestrian access itself is unrestricted at all hours since the park has no perimeter wall or gate. Municipal rules introduced in recent years prohibit climbing trees, ball games, and skating on the paved paths, and BBMP notices have specifically restricted public displays of affection on park benches — a rule that draws regular local news coverage.

Commercial photography, film and television shoots, modeling portfolios, and pre-wedding shoots require advance written permission from the Horticulture Department; casual visitors taking phone photos face no restriction. Drone flights are not permitted without separate clearance given the park's proximity to Vidhana Soudha and the High Court, both sensitive government sites.

The Government Museum, Venkatappa Art Gallery, and Visvesvaraya Museum inside the park's grounds each keep independent opening hours and charge their own admission — budget for these as separate stops rather than assuming the park's free entry extends to them.

Tips for visiting Cubbon Park

1
Enter from the Cubbon Park Metro station on the Purple Line for the most direct approach — this drops visitors within a short walk of the bandstand, State Central Library, and Government Museum cluster without needing an auto through surrounding traffic.
2
The 05:00–08:00 vehicle-free window is the single best reason to visit early: traffic noise recedes almost entirely, and the wide avenues under silver oak and rain trees are at their most walkable. Runners and cyclists treat this window as a fixture of the city's morning routine.
3
Budget a full morning for the museums inside the park — the Government Museum, Venkatappa Art Gallery, and Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum sit within a few hundred metres of each other along the southern edge, and each merits 45–60 minutes. Vidhana Soudha, best viewed from the Ambedkar Veedhi side, is a five-minute walk from the northern paths and is illuminated on Sunday evenings.

How to reach Cubbon Park

The red star is Cubbon Park; the numbered pins are the 5 nearest places in our guides, each showing its rank in its city. Tap a pin for details.

Kasturba Road, Sampangi Rama Nagara, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001Directions in Google Maps

From Kempegowda International Airport (BLR)
₹700–₹1,000
34 km · 60–90 min
Prepaid cab
From KSR Bengaluru City Junction
₹80–₹130
3 km · 10–15 min
Auto
From Cubbon Park Metro Station
₹10–₹40
0.3 km · 5 min walk
Metro fare depending on origin

Nearest airport

From Kempegowda International Airport (BLR)

approximately 34 km, 60–90 minutes by road.

Nearest railway station

From KSR Bengaluru City Junction

approximately 3 km; Cubbon Park Metro Station (Purple Line) sits directly at the park's northern edge.

Cubbon Park FAQs

Is there an entry fee for Cubbon Park?

No. Cubbon Park has no gate or entry ticket; it is an open public park crossed by city roads. The museums inside its grounds, including the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum and the Government Museum, each charge their own separate admission.

Why is Cubbon Park also called Sri Chamarajendra Park?

The park was officially renamed in 1927 in honour of Chamarajendra Wadiyar, Maharaja of Mysore. The original name, after British commissioner Sir Mark Cubbon, never fell out of everyday use and appears alongside the official name on park signage.

When are the roads inside Cubbon Park closed to traffic?

Daily between 05:00 and 08:00, the internal roads close to motor vehicles for walkers, joggers, and cyclists. Pedestrian access to the park itself is unrestricted at all other hours since there is no perimeter gate.

Can I visit Vidhana Soudha from Cubbon Park?

Yes, in the sense of viewing it. Vidhana Soudha borders the park along Dr. Ambedkar Veedhi and is a five-minute walk from the northern paths, making the park the best vantage point for photographing the building, particularly during its Sunday evening illumination.

Compiled with AI assistance from official sources and public records, and published only after the checks in How we write these guides. Nobody from Traveliac has visited this place. Last updated 18 September 2026. How we rank and check places