I have experienced Mysore both as a tourist and a resident. Once
upon a time Mysore was heavenly.But not anymore,Mysore has changed.It
is not a visual wonder which it used to be.Nor a cultural
capital.Neither a city of garden.
I visited Mysore as a primary school student,It was a beautiful
experience,broad and calm roads,oriental buildings ,green city etc.Then
there was Mysore dasara, we used to get 15 day holiday at that time.The
city reminds us of Tippu sultan"the tiger of Mysore" whose technicians
developed missile technology.Well.. many other reviews are written
about the positive side of the city. but here is a darker side. I have
watched the city changing color. its broad roads got filled with
vehicles and to expand the roads authorities felled the roadside
trees .So the greenery was lost. Not satisfied with that, they
reduced the size of circles. Some of the circles which are defaced are
RTO circle,Ramaswami circle. Metropole circle and the circle next to
it, the circle near MUDA totally disappeared. They defaced the road
that connected Ramaswami circle with Fire brigade circle.At festival
times its hard to get hotel accommodation and it hard to get right
guidance. Tourists often get cheated by vendors. Mysore is not good for
living or traveling anymore. my advice is
"keepoff".
These days Mysore is becoming a hot spot for Yoga students. couple
of decades back there were only few yoga teaching centers. But now there are
so many yoga gurukuls in the city. Some of them claim that they were teaching
Yoga for generations!!!. I feel pity about the gullible people who
come here with the hope studying this ancient descipline. Many gurus
come here and set up ashrams in the foot of Chamundi hill by occupying
government land. Real estate prices are skyrocketing and so are the land
disputes.Land dispute have not even spared holy people.
Some practical Information:Mysore is well connected by Road and rail. Its around 140 Kms from Bangalore.265 Kms from Mangalore,126Kms from Hassan.
Railways:trains are inexpensive.The rail fare as of june2008 was Rs 25(passenger) Rs44(express)Rs 55(superfast).From
Bangalore railway station to Mysore there are many train. In the
morning between 4.30 to 7:30 am there are many trains. In the
noon 3:15pm,4:25pm ,6:15pm,6:40pm and 8:30pm,11.50pm.
usually these trains are jampacked and you have to arraive an
hour earlier to get seat. Its better to avoid trains altogeher if you
want ccomfortable journey.In 6:15PM(chamundi express) train you can find the worst crowd.Never
ever board that train.Though its sheduled time is 6:15 many
people(usually students,garment workers and govt employee who run away
from office before the closing time)arraive by 5pm and reserve seats
illigally for their buddies. you can see many quarrels here. Raiway
police and Railway officials are also afraid of these mob.
From Mysore to Bangalore there are trains at 5:55am,6:45am,8:30am,11am,14.35, 15.45, 17, 18, 18:30, 23:30hrs .
Road:The road between Mysore and Bangalore is very
good.KSRTC runs busses on this route.Though they are costlier
they are better than Raiways interms of comfort. they cost around
75 to 250(volvo)..
