Family
Vacation -Part 1 ----The Princely State of Mysore
Being a person bitten by the
travel bug , every year we as a family make plans for a fun filled family
vacation during summer vacations of our kids. Most of the time it is a visit to
a near by hill station like Panchgani -Mahabaleshwar or to the green country
side in Nashik or like last year some new place like Saputara.This year we
decided to explore the beautiful Southern state of Karnataka. We zeroed in on
Mysore-Coorg-Bangalore sector with its distinct novelties of Palaces ,
historical temples ,Wild life sanctuaries and finally to end the trip in the
most cosmopolitan city of the country Bangaluru.
We landed around 10 pm one and
half hours to 2 hours behind schedule due to Air traffic congestion at Mumbai
Airport which delayed the take off of our flight. Hazards of Air travel I guess
earlier in our childhood we used to take the State transport bus to our village
in Karnataka first to Hubli then onwards to Sirsi or Bilgi or at best a train
which needed a change at Miraj due the broad guage – meter guage concept .But
it was all fun then , now if the fight is delayed the tempers start flying high
among the passengers who are either made to wait at the airport or if they have
boarded like what happened to us , stay cooped up in the flying machine. But
finally we took off and it was a nice flight with Netra and Bhakti enjoying the
view outside . But soon the weather caught up with us and started playing
truant with the plane bouncing like a ball. Soon this also passed and we made
safe landing at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bangaluru. Since we had
already booked in a hotel in Mysore we decided to take a cab directly from the
airprot itself to reach Mysore. Since me and the misus were able to finish the
dinner served in the flight we picked up some sandwiches and cold drinks for
the kids for the long journey ahead.
Thanks to technology we could
easily book an OLA outstation cab at the airport and were picked up by a nicely
behaved driver Chandrashekhar in his White Swift Dezire . And as luck would
have it we got the latest OLA Prime Play cab with built in entertainment unit
-Touch panel LCD pre loded with selected movies , TV shows , Music videos , and
even kids program like Latoo Kids. With a long journey of 3 hours this was
savior for the kids in the back seat. We reached around 2am at Hotel Sandesh the Price at Doora , Mysore
in the heart of the erstwhile Princely City State of Mysuru. We hit the bed
with dreams of enjoying the next day in this city with a legacy of Kings and
Warriors who reigned over it.
To
let you onto some information Mysore served as the capital city of
the Kingdom of Mysore for nearly six centuries, from 1399
until 1956. The Kingdom was ruled by the Wodeyar
dynasty, with a brief period of interregnum in the 1860s and 70s when Hyder Ali and Tipu
Sultan were in power. Patrons of
art and culture, the Wodeyars contributed significantly to the cultural growth
of the city and the state. The cultural ambiance and achievements of Mysore
earned it the sobriquet Cultural Capital of Karnataka.
Mysore is noted for its heritage structures and palaces, including the Mysore Palace, and for the festivities
that take place during the Dasara festival when the city receives a
large number of tourists from across the world. It lends its name to various
forms arts and culture like Mysore
Dasara, Mysore Painting; dishes
like the sweet dish Mysore Pak,
Mysore masala dosa; brands like Mysore
Sandal Soap, Mysore Ink; styles
and cosmetics like Mysore Peta (a
traditional silk turban) and the Mysore
Silk sarees, etc. Tourism is the major industry
alongside the traditional industry
So we got up the next day and decided
to explore this lovely place and hired a local cab , again the driver Praveen
was excellent and doubled up as our guide during the day’s visit. He suggested
we visit the Mysore Palace first ,to
get the feel of history and culture. We were awestruck at the gates of this
majestic palace also known as the Amba
Vilas Palace. A huge gate with big arches awaits your entrance. Pay and
collect your tickets for the tour inside and walk inside. You can hire a local
guide like we did , who explains minute details of the history and significance
of the palace. At the start of entrance you can see wall paintings
showing the grandness and types of army kings had and their royal grandness
when they come out on streets with full procession. Later you need to walk through
corridors and you can get view of beautiful palace wall paintings , glass
paintings , roof top paintings , designs , pillars architecture. The ceiling of
the Deewan -e-Aam the huge hall
where the Wodiyar King used to hear the common public and carry out his durbar
is lined with beautiful paintings of Cement sheet (Asbestos) which were painted
with floral and animal motifs and then screwed up to the ceiling. There is a
unique 3D painting of the Royal
Procession in which the dignitaries and the peasants are all standing in
front of the Royal elephant . When you look at this procession it seems all of
the people are looking at you. Even when you walk across the painting to the
other side it seems the people in the painting are following you and still watching
you. What a master piece. Then there the royal Ambari or Howdah weighing 750 kgs in which the King used to sit
atop the Royal elephant during the Dassera Procession. Now the golden moorty of
the Chamundeshwari Devi is taken around Mysore. The elephant selected for this
duty has to 4 tons and is selected from the Dubare Elephant camp brought to the
Mysotre Palace and trained for 2 months. The procession itself is very Grant we
were told. Should visit Mysore during Dassera time. Then there Few Burma wood chairs
and oil portraits of kings ancestors are kept on display. Every door you pass
you can see beautiful teak wood carvings and art of carpenters those days on
the doors. Not many things related to king are kept on display , very little
are available to view , but the displayed item like the Belgian glass thrones ,
dressing tables etc are grand. We were told the present kings Mother the
Rajmata stays here , so most of the part
in palace is private area. You can see some jewelry used to decorate Elephants
during Dussera, huge open stadium where king give darshan to general public. We
came out thoroughly enjoying this journey through time seeped in History.
It was close to lunch time and we
requested Praveen to take us to a restaurant for lunch. We stopped at a local small
but nice food joint and lapped up a simple veg thali lunch. Nest stop was a Sand Sculpture Museum near by . India's
first Sand Sculpture Museum. It is a unique museum where one finds the
heritage of Mysore crafted into sand. Located near Chamundi Hills, this Museum
is worth a visit. It is incredible to note that these marvelous pieces of art
were made using just sand and water. A giant 15 feet Ganesha statue right at the entrance is followed by variety
of themes including Tom & Jerry,
Mysore Kings, Chamundeswari Goddess, landscapes and animals. The sand sculpture
museum takes you to another world for half an hour.MN Gowri, a resident of
Mysore is the creator of this museum. She is a bachelor in fine arts. Gowri
wanted to show something unique to tourists coming to Mysore. Being
an exponent of Sand Sculpture she decided to create a museum to
showcase her works of art made out of sand and water
Spread over 13500 square feet, this museum exhibits 150
pieces of sand sculptures. The prominent themes are heritage of Mysore,
wildlife and scenes from epics of major religions of the world. Right at the
entrance is a giant 15 feet tall statue of Ganesha. Other prominent works
are those of the erstwhile King of Mysore, Chamundeswari Devi, Arjun and
Krishna in chariot, wild animals and ancient Egypt. Walk leisurely and
enjoy the sights.
Another quirky place is the Wax
museum near by .The Wax Museum at Mysore is aptly named as Melody World. The museum fascinates visitors through its display of
various musical instruments in interesting settings, replete with life size wax
statues of musicians playing the musical instruments. Since the museum is based
on music and musical instruments it reflects the diverse kinds of musical
instruments that have been in use across various parts of the country and the
world since ancient times. This is a one-of-its kind wax museum in the whole
world. The museum was established in October 2010 by a Bengaluru based IT
professional named Shreeji Bhaskaran. It was created as a tribute to musicians
from all over the world. The wax museum takes its visitors on a 19 gallery tour
comprising of 110 life size wax statues and more than 300 Indian and western
musical instruments. The statues and instruments are exhibited in various bands
and stage settings. Visitors are treated to an amazing representation of
musical instruments covering from the Stone Age to Modern Instruments. The
attractive exhibits of bands include Indian Classical Hindustani and Carnatic,
Jazz, Rock, Hip Hop, Punjabi Bhangra, South Indian, Middle East, Chinese, etc.
The museum also has lovely representation of tribal music and its instruments. Each wax
exhibit is a brilliant work of art that reflects the talent of the sculpture
and his deep passion for his art.
Next stop was the ancient Sri Chamudeshwari Temple atop the Chamundi
Hills. This temple is dedicated to
Chamundi or Durga the fierce form of Shakti. The slayer of demons Chanda and
Munda and also Mahishasura the buffalo headed monster.
The
temple is of a quadrangular structure. Built in Dravidian style, it consists of
the Main Doorway, Entrance, Navaranga Hall, Antharala Mantapa, Sanctum
Sanctorum, and Prakara. There is a beautiful seven-tier Gopura or pyramidal
tower at the entrance and a ‘Vimana’ (small tower) atop the sanctum sanctorum.
Atop the ‘Shikara’, the tower at the entrance, are seven golden ‘Kalashas’.
Krishnaraja
Wodeyar III repaired the shrine in 1827 A.D and built the present beautiful
tower at the entrance (Gopura). Blessed by the Goddess, Krishnaraja Wodeyar, an
ardent devotee of the mother Goddess, presented to the temple a ‘Simha-vahana’
(A lion-shaped vehicle) and other animal cars and jewels of value. The cars are
used even now for processions on special religious occasions.
In
the ‘Antharala’ prior to the sacred sanctum sanctorum are the images of Lord
Ganesha on the left side and of ‘Bhyrava’ on the right side. To the left of
Ganesha, there is a beautiful 6-foot statue of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar
III. He is standing with his hands folded in his religious clothes. On either
side of him are his three wives, Ramavilasa, Lakshmivilasa and Krishnavilasa.
Their names are carved on the pedestals In the sanctum sanctorum is the stone
statue of the Goddess, ‘Mahisha Mardhini.’ Having ‘Ashta Bhujas’ or eight shoulders,
she is in a seated posture. According to the local legend, the image was
established by sage Markandeya and hence it is said to be very old.
The
idol of the Goddess is decorated every day and worshipped by a number of
priests. The Mysore Maharajas have donated number of valuable gifts to their
family deity.Coconuts, fruits and flowers are offered to the deity.
On
the way back you encounter an unique sight at the foothills of the Chamudi
Hills . An enormous big bull -Nandi
the vahan of Shiva . More
than 350 years old, this is one of the oldest icons in Mysore.Carved out
of a single boulder and standing tall at 16 feet and 24 feet wide a mesmerizing
figure giving radiating strength & energy when you look at it .
Next stop the world famous Brindavan
Gardens of Mysore, undeniably one of the best
terrace gardens in the world. A must sightseeing place of a Mysore tour, Brindavan Garden mesmerizes
everyone. Brindavan gardens with its illuminated fountains, botanical park,
extensive varieties of plants and fulfilled boating, is place for everyone. A popular feature of the Brindavan Gardens are the musical fountains. The fountains are maintained by the water pressure from the
dam and are operated through a controller. The musical fountain show presents a
harmonized water dance, accompanied by colourful lights and music. For visitors,
a rain shelter and gallery has been built. Netra and Bhakti enjoyed the
15 minute show of light and water synchronization on Hindi Bollywood songs.
What a beautiful sight….
As next day was little Bhakti’s
birthday we decided to spend the day at the famous Mysore Zoo or Mysore Zoo or Shri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens
is one of the oldest zoo in India. The Mysore zoo is over a century old and has an interesting
history of its own. Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyar had a vision to create a well
laid-out city amidst the gardens, and founded the world famous Mysore Zoo in
the year of 1892. The Mysore Zoo which has now spread over an area of 250 acres
was initially meant for the exclusive visit of the royal family but public
entry started as early as 1920
Mysore Zoo boasts of amazing and rare variety of fauna. For
instance, it is the only Indian zoo that has all three species of Rhino i.e.
white, black and Indian rhino. Brown bear, sloth bear, brown lemur, Nilgiri
langur, chimpanzee, orangutan and the Himalayan bear are a few other wild
animals that can be spotted here. This zoo is also known for its tigers. A whole lot of deers –
Chittal’s , Black Buck’s , barking deer . Lots of Elephants and even the tall
necked Giraffe’s . It also is host to vide variety of birds from Peacocks to Falmigoes(Angipankh)
with wings tips in fiery red. Other birds
in the collection arte Mackao’s , Parrots , Golden Pheasants , Indian Hornbill
(Jatayu) and Eagles and Owls. The zoo is very well landscaped with well laid
out walk ways and drinking water coolers and wash rooms at regular intervals. Though
we preferred walking they also operate Battery operated cards for young mothers
with infants and senior citizens. But watching the animals at close quarters is
great fun than whizzing past in a car.
And to end the day on a high
note we went to watch the Mysore Palace on that Sunday evening to watch it
illuminated with 1 lakh bulbs . The entire palace premise glows in this hallow
and you can walk around on its grounds enjoying the lighting . Looking at the
Palace it looks as if it is bedecked with shinning diamonds a truly awesome
sight. Close by there are illuminated silver buggy’s drawn by horses and Bhakti
had a blast riding the carriage sitting pretty like a cute little princess….
What a way to celebrate one’s
birthday ….in true Royal Style. Ending with a lavish dinner at the theme restaurant
-Jungle near the Mysore Central Bus Station. It has Rain-forest theme. The
ambiance is really cool .Nicely lit with replica’s of birds , anaconda and
monkeys hanging from trees.. The waiters dressed as Hunters. The food to was
child friendly with mild spicy recipes. We had an enjoyable family dinner.
A great trip to this Princely
State….
Next week I will continue our
journey to Coorg and Bangalore..
Happy Reading…
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