Whitefield is the pride of Bangalore, India's own Silicon Valley. Located approximately 24 kilometres away from the city centre, this planned suburb is a showcase of the city's most cutting-edge architectural and technological achievements, developed to attract the cream of the world's major information technology giants to the country's IT capital. Although not a tourist centre in its own right, Whitefield, and by extension Bangalore at large, is fast seeing an exponential growth in business and IT tourism, as a commercial haven for multinational companies. The area was until recently a small community of Anglo-Indians in Karnataka which has now been transformed into a magnet for employment and industry, drawing the country's brain trust in force into this concentrated promised land of opportunity. Thus, the area now boasts a burgeoning, hip-and-happening IT-ocracy, spear-headed by ambitious, innovative young engineers and corporate climbers with cash to spare and a definite thirst for new excitement. This in turn has given rise to a luxury economy and retail culture in Whitefield; the urban development and economy has been growing ever since at an amazing rate. Futuristic shopping centres such as Hypercity and Forum Value Mall are evidence of the new market for luxury brands in the city, the latter being a 300,000 square foot avant-garde retail arena that is the first mall in India to boast a range of global brands in the form of factory outlets. The Bengaluru suburb in Karnataka is now The Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP) and the Industrial Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB), two of the primary planned developments that act as both figureheads of the economy and harbingers of its future promise. The EPIP, one of the first of its kind in India, is famous for being the Asian address of R&D giants such as Oracle, Symbian and Accenture among a myriad of others. The ITPB, meanwhile, is a hi-tech development park designed to provide a unique "work and play" environment for the city's many IT businesses and their professionals. The infrastructure and facilities of the park are among the best in the country and the park itself offers a plethora of amusements and recreational venues that make it a coveted tourism spot in the city. However, the attractions of Whitefield are not purely commercial in nature. The district is also primarily famous for being the summer abode of Indian spiritual guru, Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The revered religious leader spends three months of the year at the Brindavam Ashram. This centre of religious pilgrimage was inaugurated in 1960 and is located in close proximity to both the Whitefield Railways station and the Sathya Sai Baba Hospital that specializes in neurosurgery and cardiovascular operations. Other historical and cultural sites of interest in Whitefield include its oldest school, St. Joseph's Convent, the picturesque Our Lady of Lourdes Church and the Stations of the Cross statue, both of which are set upon a hill. Sites such as these retain the old-world charisma of the area. Those looking for a Bangalore hotel affording convenient access to the above Whitefield attractions as well as luxury lodgings are directed to The Zuri Whitefield, Bangalore. This is a luxury hotel in Whitefield well-reputed for its range of facilities, elegant accommodation and hospitable service.