Rest and Relaxation in Bangalore and Mysore

After I came back from Varanasi I went to Bangalore and Mysore which is situated in the state of Karnataka – South of India. After an unpleasant and tiring experience travelling back by train from Varanasi, I left for Bangalore by flight. When I settled into my seat in the plane, I felt such a relief – what a vast contrast to the train ride!

I left Pune on 25th October (Tuesday) and was back on 28th October (Friday). Although it was a short trip, it was a relaxing one. I spent time with a newly acquainted family in Bangalore. This family was in Klang (my hometown in Malaysia) 27 years back. They left Malaysia and settled down in Pondicherry before shifting to Bangalore. I came to know this family through a former parishioner of mine in Seremban, Malaysia.

On the day of my arrival, they had a Diwali celebration in their house. In the state of Karnataka Diwali is celebrated one day early that is on the 25th while Tamil Nadu celebrated it the 26th of October. I enjoyed watching the fireworks in the neighbourhood and dinner with the family.

Children and adults alike enjoying the fireworks

The next day, I was taken on a tour around Bangalore town. We visited a huge wooden palace of Tipu Sultan which was built in the 16th century. This palace was a guest house for the Sultan those days.

The Palace of Tipu Sultan in Mysore

There were some restrictions in taking photographs of this palace. I was told that some of the scenes in one of the famous Tamil movie “Chandramukki” acted by well-known Tamil movie superstar Rajinikanth was shot in this palace. We also visited the famous Infant Jesus’ Church in Bangalore.

The Infant Jesus Church in Bangalore


On the third day of my visit, I went to Mysore. It was a 3 hour journey down south by car. I visited St Philomena’s Church which was built in 1843 and Mysore Palace.

The magnificent St Philomena's Church - built in 1843

The relic of St Philomena


Mysore has so many places to visit compared to Bangalore but due to the time factor I could not go around much.

The attractive Mysore Palace is cited as the largest palace in India and was the residence of Wodayar Maharaja of Mysore.

Mysore Palace

On our way back we stopped at the Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel and also toured the garden. This is where the Tamil movie “Muthu” was filmed which also starred Rajinikanth.

Lalitha Mahal Hotel

On the 3rd night I joined the family to go watch the Tamil movie “Velayuthaam” in the theatre. It was the latest Tamil movie released in India for Diwali. I got my first unforgettable experience of watching a movie in India cinemas. The noise was horrendous – with all the whistling and cheering, definitely nothing like Malaysia.

Overall, I enjoyed my trip to Bangalore and Mysore. It was a great time of rest and relaxation before I begin my 2nd semester in college.