whats in a name (mysore versus bangalore)

While most of the names of modern planned localities in Mysore can be found in Bangalore too like Jayanagar, Vijayanagar, JP Nagar, etc. (but B'lore does not seem to have a Siddarthanagar or Saraswatipuram) I am intrigued by some of the old traditional names (villages which have got swallowed by the growing city). Mysore is unique for its koppalus like Tonachi Koppalu, Manchegowdana Koppalu, Kumbara Koppalu and so on. Can't recollect any Koppal in Bangalore. Similarly Bangalore has its unique Kavals - Kaval Byrasandra, JB Kaval, VyaliKaval ...

Bangalore also has its share of palyas such as Malleshpalya, Murugeshpalya. Palyas seem to have crossed the religious divide with areas like Sultanpalya, Michaelpalya! Mysore has a few. I am aware of Nachanahalli Palya and Bandipalya.

The other USP of Mysore are the Mohallas of yore like KR, VV, NR, Fort, Devaraja Mohallas.

Bangalore has these fabricated names associating areas to the adjoining roads. Perhaps the burgeoning city made the authorities run out ideas? Some examples are W.O.C Layout (West of Chord Road), HRBR layout (Hennur Road - Banaswadi Road), HSR Layout (Hosur Road - Sarjapur Road). Have not come across them in Mysore yet.

Another speciality of Mysore are theme based naming of roads. For eg: Roads in Kuvempunagar are based on the poets compositions, while roads in Siddarthanagar are based on the values expounded by Buddha. While they sound nice it becomes a nightmare for one unfamiliar with the area to locate an address! The traditional main, cross co-ordinates give you some idea of where you are and where you may have to go but being in Vinaya Marga does not give you any clue on where you will get Moksha Marga! You will have to resort to the friendly neighborhood which still exists thankfully.

mysore gardens

Since I moved to Mysore one of my areas of interest is to see how Mysore is (still) different from Bangalore.

It is heartening to still see a few houses with expansive gardens but the numbers are diminishing by the day giving rise to apartments, malls and multiplexes. I guess no one can escape the wave of globalization (or being "bangalored" as the expression goes).

In the area that I stay which is one of the newer localities people have maximized their built-up space even in 40x60 plots (just as in B'lore) but the key difference is that they have still found a way to keeptheir gardens. The Mysore approach is to use the footpath space outside. You will invariably see flowering bushes, fruit trees like guava, sapota and even jackfruit in these footpath gardens but the common factor is coconut trees. I have even seen parts of MUDA areas which are earmarked for parks being used for these gardens! Since MCC has not yet discovered the "business" of concreting foot paths that has been going on in Bangalore, Mysoreans can have their homes as well as their gardens! I have no complaints with this externalization of gardens phenomenon though.