A Spiritual Lunch Worth the Drive at Sri Somesvara

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The road up to Mount Soma is rutted and storm-damaged, steep and winding until it reaches a bald patch at the top. On a Saturday afternoon in 2018, I navigated it all on my motorcycle, parked, and ascended the steps to a gleaming white building with a roof the color of blooming rhododendrons.

I first spotted Sri Somesvara, a Hindu temple in Western North Carolina, on Google Maps. During that first visit, I joined a family in removing our shoes outside before entering the building. A priest began slowly circling a shrine, lighting incense and clanging a chime. I stood there in my socks and motorcycle gear, feeling unsure. “It’s okay to sit,” a woman whispered with a smile, and so I grabbed one of the chairs at the edge of the small room, soaking in the peaceful, contemplative silence, broken only by the steady chime. I followed her family out a few minutes later, and she asked if I was staying for lunch. In a building down the hill from the temple, I joined the buffet line.

The temple meal is about $15 for adults on weekends. Warming trays hold rice and dahl and stewed vegetables, all mildly seasoned to satisfy a crowd. The hot sauce they’ll scoop onto your paper tray is the key. I went back up for seconds of the chana masala, chickpeas spiced with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and cumin, and the man serving them asked if I wanted to take home a container of leftovers. That first time, I sat by myself in the room, which reminded me of a sparse church basement.

Afterward, I called Michael Mamas, founder of the “enlightened city” on top of Mount Soma, and asked him about the meal served there. “There is nothing that I’ve ever experienced food-wise as sublime as gourmet Indian food,” he said. “The saffrons, the subtle flavors. It’s mind-blowing.”

I’ve been to the temple several times since on motorcycle trips through the mountains, sometimes bringing friends. I rarely tell them what to expect. “There’s a surprise at the end of the road,” I told my friend Andrew one hot summer day. We sat outside on the patio, using naan to scoop up curry, the Blue Ridge Mountains gleaming off in the distance.

I’m not a religious person, but I know there’s something spiritual about finding a gleaming temple at the top of a mountain, sharing a moment with strangers, and having them ask if you’re staying for lunch.

Where to Stay:

The Swag

This Relais & Châteaux mountain hideaway outside Waynesville, North Carolina, is set nearly a mile above sea level on 250 acres bordering Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Rooms, suites, and cabins lean rustic-luxe, with serious views, hiking access, and the kind of all-inclusive hospitality that makes a weekend in the mountains feel like someone handled every practical concern before arrival.