Lomography

Taste of Mysore
written by -a-l-b-e-r-t-o- on December 3rd, 2008 (2 votes)

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An interesting city, in the south of India, with large roads and nice buildings, above all the Marajà Palace, an imposing building, with a huge garden and different temples dedicated to the various Hindu divinities and some elephants used for ceremonies. From Bangalore is really simple to get there by train.

I advise you to travel by train even if you have to book on time because they are always crowded. On the train you will know deeply India and its humanity. The Marajà Palace has hundreds of rooms super kitsch with decorated columns, decorated walls with the passed life of the city, Hindu statues with maniacal decorations and doors with silver and ivory. On Sunday evening the Palace and the other buildings are lighted with 97000 lamps, there is a surreal atmosphere, it seems a huge circus, it’s a big party for everybody, old and young. It’s in Mysore that my arrogance with indian food was inexorably defeated.

There are some street restaurant just outside the Palace, really happy for having seen the Palace lighted up I tried the gobi manchurian, the taste was superb for me but not for my stomach…one day of stomach noise and one day in the bathroom are enough to rub out from my mind the memory of that experience. Anyway if you forget this event, Mysore cuisine is delicious. Mysore is in South India and like all the other states in this part of the country has its specialties. My all time favorite Mysore dish is dosa with potato filling eaten with sambar and coconut chutney and onion chutney…believe me a sensorial experience. So a very fascinating city also for food.

The historical commercial area still has the real flavor of India, with its large extent of stalls with powders of different colors, essential oils, silk shops and flowers, flowers, flowers…Life in India is a continuous rotation of smells from gas stoves, herbs, incense maybe they try to cover bad smells. The colors are everywhere. They explode cheerfully on the stalls where flowers are sold for ceremonies and temple offers. They spot the jute cloth with red, green, violet, yellow. Wonderful for eyes and nose. People are friendly even if they try to sell you everything…Also the neighborhood are very interesting. The Chamundi Hill has a big temple on the top. You can go there by climbing 1000 steps or by bus. The stairs are an experience but I prefer the bus experience cheap and crowded of course like all India…it’s a place to go.