Mysore Revisited: More to See and Do

You may remember that I was previously in Mysore, between my trips to Bangalore and Chennai. Last time, I spent three days here, and really didn't do much of anything. I saw the Mysore Palace, the Devaraja Market, and took an expensive daytrip to Somnathpur. I met my friends Ella, Nell, Sam, and Ayesha here as well. Mysore really is an amazing city, with stunning architecture everywhere you look, small alleyways dedicated to wheat or steel or sugarcane, the paradox of a modern world mixed with old ways, and the perfect location in Southern Karnataka. The only drawback is that the air quality is SO poor here, that even walking, I sometimes need to cover my nose and mouth with a handkerchief.

Since I had to pass through here from the Wayanad to Madikeri, I decided to make the most of it. Staying at the popular Parklane Restaurant (yes, in the restaurant) gave me the perfect location between both bus stands. I've been able to explore and really get a sense of Mysore. I could give you directions from anywhere to anywhere in the city.

What I'm going to do is quickly recap what I've done each day I've been here, since each day has brought on a wholly new experience.

Day One. Mysore Darshan. I really didn't see much the last time I was here, so I decided to take in a few of those places I should have visited: Jagan Mohan Palace, Chamundi Hill, and St. Philomena Cathedral (shown above). The Palace has an art gallery with a funky mix of random memorabilia from the Wadiyar empire (which ended in the mid-20th Century) and paintings from all sorts of Indian artists. I easily spent two hours perusing all the different pieces. Then I tromped over to the nearby City Bus Stand and caught the number 201 bus to Chamundi Hill. I arrived there right as the Chamundaswara Temple was just opening for the evening. The darshan line was quite long, so I paid a little something to get through it more quickly. After seeing the temple, my forehead was marked with the beginning of the rainbow, red on the bottom, orange in the middle, and yellow on the top. I descended the 1000-some steps and jumped on a riksha to go straight to the St. Philomena Cathedral in north Mysore (Chamundi Hill was about 2 kilometers south of the city). Of course, I felt very odd about going into such an amazing place with the Hindu markings on my forehead, so I found a place to wash it off. The Cathedral was truly beautiful. After, I walked back to my hotel, grabbed a quick dinner, and then walked here and there, seeing even more of the city's great architecture during the nighttime. The day was relaxing but still quite full.

Day Two. Brindavan Gardens. All my relatives said that I had to go here, so I decided to take their advice. Located on the edge of Krishnaraja Sagar, a dramatic lake formed by a dam, these gardens are the ultimate in floral and fountain landscaping. The flowers and bushes are nice, to be sure, but the fountains steal the show. Before I left on the 303 bus from the City Bus Stand, for which I had to wait more than an hour, I stocked up on picnic-type items. I wanted to enjoy a nice, quiet day at the Gardens. And this involved avoiding a restaurant for dinner. So, I arrived at the Gardens in the late afternoon, took in the scenery, then plopped down for my dinner. Most striking about the day was the sunset over K.R. Sagar. The day ended with the famous lighted fountain show, for which hundreds of Indians flocked to the Gardens. The show was cool at first, with lit fountains (shown above) in great patterns to Bollywood and Bhangra hits. After a while, once I had finished marveling at the sophistication of the fountain system, I got bored quickly. Thankfully, the show only lasted for about fifteen minutes. Then, I boarded one of the many buses back to Mysore. And that was it for that day.

Day Three. Mahamastakabhisheka at Sravanabelagola (try saying that three times fast!). With the town of Sravanabelagola only 2.5 hours away, and with the biggest festival in all of Jainism occurring there, I couldn't not go. So, I left in the late morning on a bus not to the town, but to a neighboring one, from which I caught one of many buses to Sravanabelagola. I was immediately struck by how many people were there, and not just Jains. Thousands of people were there, waiting for an opportunity to climb up Vindhyagiri Hill to see the 17.5 meter tall Sri Gomateswara (Bahubali) being annointed by ghee, milk, honey, and colored powder. I waited and waited under the absolutely brutal sun for the opportunity to walk up the hill at a painfully slow rate (due to all the people). Once I got to the top, after having pushed and shoved my way closer and closer to Bahubali, I barely got a glimpse before being swept away. No time for praying. In order to keep the crowd moving, I had maybe one minute to see Bahubali, in his red and yellow stained glory. Then, we all were shown the way off the side. Many pilgrims, including myself, went to the designated water fountains to wash off the yellow and red powder and dyes covering our faces (see the kids above). This particular path off the hill took us about a kilometer away from our shoes, so I had to walk on the hot cement until I could retrieve my chappals. By this point, the crowd and the sun had taken their toll on me. I jumped on a Mysore-bound bus and called it a day.

Day Four. Melkote. Smitten by the artistry of the Hoysala period that I saw during my trip to Somnathpur, I decided to head to the small village of Melkote. I worried that this place would be just as difficult, and therefore expensive, to get to as Somnathpur, but I didn't care. So, I jumped on a bus that was heading in the right direction, but let me off a little early. Luckily, I caught another bus that took me the rest of the way. Located in a valley in the middle of a desert plateau, Melkote is undoubtedly dramatic. Overlooking the village, which seemed to me to be a smaller version of Badami, was the mesa-top Yoganarasimha Temple. In the middle of the village was a gigantic tank surrounded by ruins of past excellence. Then, on the far end of the village is the Hoysala-built, but really not all the interesting, Chaluvanarayana Temple (it was nothing like the Keshava Temple in Somnathpur). Neither of the temples were all the fascinating, but the views from Yoganarasimha were stunning. The pic above shows Melkote from Vishnu's feet within Yoganarasimha. And I found a great rocky outcrop to sit and chill on for a good hour or so. I found a level of peace I hadn't had for quite some time, and that made the whole trip worth it. I really enjoyed hanging out at the Tank and seeing the families have fun there during their Sunday holiday. In the evening, I caught a bus back the same way, through the other same village. The buses were so crowded, I had to squeeze my way on and off each one. Situations like this reminded me how many people live in India. You'd never feel so claustrophobic in America. Still, the day was wonderful. I went to a place with absolutely no foreign visitors (I'm sure the villagers wouldn't even know how to really react), and found some needed peace. Oh, and saw some temples too.

Day Five. Mysore Darshan, Take Two. I needed to buy my train tickets from Bangalore to Hyderabad, and then from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad. So, I waited at the ticket reservation hour, in the exceptionally slow line, for over two hours. After I left, it was too late to head out to Srirangapatna, like I had planned. So, I decided to do that tomorrow. I decided to walk and take pictures of random buildings in Mysore. The above picture is of Mysore Palace from through its East Gate. Then, I remembered a set of ruined temples close to Chamundi Hill, so I tried to find my way there, but I never quite made it. By this point, the sun was burning and my breakfast of porridge was long gone. So, I decided to call it a day. Not much of a darshan, but still not so bad. Bought tickets. Got some good walking in. And finally a day of no traveling!

Day Six. Mysore Darshan, Take Three. I woke up today with a bit of a stomachache, sadly only one week after dealing with this in the Wayanad. So, I had to scrap my plans to see Srirangapatna today. Luckily, I didn't have to go far to get plain bread and lemon soda (the food of sick people everywhere!). I stepped out of my room and sat down at a table. Soon, to one side, sat Richard, a Welch nurse's assistant who specializes in Psychiatric problems. On the other side, two Britishers, Sophie, who deals with assessment for environmental consulting, and Jane, who recently got a Master's degree in a topic between Sociology and Geography. Joining them was Ben, a Canadian from Banff (who ended our friendship the moment I said that I preferred Jasper) who works as a bartender, a snowboard shop employee, and a realtor, and who's been traveling for 3.5 of the last 5 years, who bought a house worth half a million Canadian dollars, and who is the same age as I am. The five of us had a great time chatting it up. The latter three were also staying at the Parklane. Sophie and Jane had just arrived and wanted to see things. Ben was more inclined to take it easy. And Richard had been doing Yoga nonstop for the past week. He had to skip out on our daily activities, but I decided to tag along with the other three when they went off to the Palace. I acted as their guide (a bad one, of course), since I had been there before. I had a great time with them as we visited the Palace and forced Jane to ride a camel (which we all claimed looked a little like her), since she hadn't done this before. After, we went to the Devaraja Market, where we saw lots of tika powder (shown above), bought some flowers, tried a new vegetable, and lost Ben (who ended up learning how to sell flowers from the vendors) along the way. We then met Ben and Richard for dinner at the Parklane. I ate food and drank alcohol, though I really shouldn't have. Because it was Valentine's Day, I asked one of my waiter friends to secretly get me two roses, which I then presented to Jane and Sophie. We then had fun trying to find odd places to put the roses on our heads. Finally, all tuckered out, I turned in, sad that I didn't go to Srirangapatna, but excited to have met these great people.

Day Seven. Srirangapatna. Finally. I got up and still had issues. Nevertheless, I was determined to make it to the very last stop in Mysore. Jane and Sophie joined me for lunch, and decided to go to Chamundi Hill and the Zoo today (I passed by the zoo, but decided not to go in, because my experience in Indian zoos always leaves me feeling sorry for the animals). Jane and I both ordered corn flakes, which weren't corn flakes at all. I don't know what they were, but they were so hard I could feel my teeth chipping. I of course didn't finish this. After a final trip to the bathroom, I packed up and left for Srirangapatna, better known as S.R. Patna (or Patna, for short). I hopped off the bus at the first stop, which led me to the rarely used Mysore Gate. I marveled at the remnants of the fort, and how they have been incorporated into the current city. Just so you know, SR Patna was the capital of Tippu Sultan's empire, which controlled all of Mysore until the British defeated him in the Fourth Mysore War of 1799. Doing so gave the British the ability to finally expand into the South. Also, SR Patna is located on a large island in the middle of the Cauvery River. Anyway, I tromped along the streets, not really knowing where I was going, until I saw a flag post that offered a good view of the city. From there, I saw what I thought was the Gumbaz, the burial site for Tippu Sultan and his famous father, Hyder Ali. I also saw the Sri Ramanathaswami Temple, and really thought, 'Wow, everything is so close together!' The Gumbaz was actually the Jamia Masjid, which I went into and wondered at the intricacy. Also, the Masjid's outer wall belonged to a Hindu temple, the inner building was Muslim, and the building's base was blessed by Jains. A synthesis of three religions, such was the openness of Tippu Sultan, a Muslim. I then started to walk to the temple, but found out it was closed, and that the Dariya Daulat Bagh, Tippu's summer palace, would close soon and I would miss it. So, I hopped on a riksha which took me to the Bagh, which now houses a museum within the fantasticly ornately colored palace. After, the driver took me to the real Gumbaz, which had a cool onion-shaped top. Then to the Sangam, where the Cauvery meets two other waterways at the edge of the SR Patna island. Finally, I saw the ruins of Tippu's Lal Bagh, his daily palace; the place where the British found his body; the site in the fort's walls that the British entered through to defeat Tippu; the dungeon where Tippu kept all his prisoners (shown above); and the Sri Ramanathaswamy (Vishnu in a reclining or sleeping mode) Temple. It was a nice trip, though expensive due to the riksha ride. But I know I wouldn't have seen everything without it. Now I'm back in Mysore, and will have dinner with everyone soon. Most likely I'll leave tomorrow for Madikeri, where I'll spend only one day.

Mysore was amazing. I haven't stayed this long anywhere since Hampi, and I had new experiences every day. I appreciate my time here, and revel in the fact that I've done more here than pretty much anyone else would ever do.