TAKING TO THE ROYALS.

It was finally here. Dasara 2018 and where else to be other that the city where everything is happening! MYSURU. One of those 'take your bags are go' trip turned out to be a royal one as we witnessed one of the most prominent festivals of south India come to it's prime! MYSURU was at it's bloody best. Right from entrance of the city till the last road that left. Main Streets. Every cross section. Every single paved pathway was decorated with fancy lights and nothing comes close to when the city lights up at night. It's a different atmosphere. You can feel it in your blood. The vibe. The people. Thousands of them. All add in.Well. If you're travelling into the city, I'd suggest you take a few suggestions from the locals to have a parallel entry. Because it gets pretty crowded ( ok really crowded). You might be stuck in for hours together on road.I'm lucky enough to say Mysore is in my blood. A fellow Bangalore resident but this is where I hail from so I remember spending almost every weekend and every summer running around streets and gulley's and playing cricket with the boys. So I'll boast my dad and I have quite some knowledge about the streets so we made it home quite easily avoiding all the traffic!The nine day festival to which we traversed a hundred and fifty kilometers on the seventh day from Bangalore had the rehearsal of the famous torch light parade which we did not quite get the passes to. But we did get a little of what dasara 2018 had to offer to us. Little to our knowledge we left for Bannimatapa. Where the torch light parade was to be held and then realised it was too late as free entry this year had be cancelled but that didn't stop us from getting some really good photos! The spirit of festivals. You find people from every single culture or religion across the country. Speaking in various language. Hailing from different states (and countries too) to gather and unite in one huge stadium and celebrate this feeling of love, trust and victory. DASARA!

Day 2 was the big day everyone was waiting for. The day of the jumbo savari! The day the palace relives it's old times where thousands of people gather in the main courtyard and where festivities and dances are in full swing as the Maharaja or the king of MYSURU pays homage to his ancestors and worships Lord chamundeshwari. The deity which is placed on the elephant embarks a journey from the palace to bannimatapa. We were lucky to get ourselves the passes to the palace and watch the celebration in full swing. There were tableaus of various districts and dances and parades that went on at the palace and it was joy to watch! Here are some pictures of the event so the Royal palace.Oh and what you don't want to miss when you're here in Mysore during dasara is the food. Aahara mela or food fest is the place you need to search for. Food from all over Karnataka and India. Authentic and delicious. You can't miss this. I've always enjoyed food from North Karnataka since my folks are from there so we got our hands dirty to some amazing amazing food!