The travel section of the world’s most respected English newspaper, The New York Times, lists 31 places to go to in 2010. And at No. 4—just after Sri Lanka, Patagonia wine country and Seoul—is Mysore.

The only other city from India on the NYT list is Bombay at No. 13.

Mary Billard writes:

“You’ve completed 200 hours of teacher training, mastered flying crow pose and even spent a week at yoga surf camp. What’s next? Yogis seeking transcontinental bliss head these days to Mysore, the City of Palaces, in southern India.

“The yogi pilgrimage was sparked by Ashtanga yoga, a rigorous sweat-producing, breath-synchronized regimen of poses popularized by the beloved Krishna Pattabhi Jois, who died at 94 in 2009. Jois’s grandson is now director of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute. First month’s tuition is 27,530 rupees, or $600 at 46 rupees to the dollar. Classes generally require a one-month commitment.

“Too much time or money? Mysore’s yoga boom now has shalas catering to every need. Off the mat, the yoga tribe hobnobs at Anu’s Bamboo Hut or the Regaalis Hotel pool, studies Sanskrit, gets an ayurveda treatment or tours the maharaja’s palace.”

Photograph: An ice-candy seller in front of one of Mysore’s most famous landmarks, the St. Philomena‘s church (courtesy Dibyangshu Sarkar/ Agence France Presse via NYT)

Read the entire list: The 31 places to go in 2010

Link via Nikhil Moro

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Also read: R.K. NARAYAN on Mysore City

M.V. KRISHNASWAMY: God is in his heaven

H. VENKATASUBBIAH: In old Mysore

MYSORE: The world’s most famous Mysoreans

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Once upon a time in namma Mysore

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