Mysore was a marked change from the cities and towns of Tamil
Nadu.
A Maharajah (1884-1940) was credited with transforming Mysore into a center of education, the arts, and city planning among other things. The city has wide boulevards laid on a grid. Cars, auto rickshaws, and
motor bikes don’t stray into the lanes going in the opposite
directions, they stop at lights, and pedestrians can cross the streets
without endangering their lives. The city is clean – no visible
piles of rubbish – we were told that it is the 2
nd cleanest city in
India. Our only bad experience was with the travel agency, it had booked us in the Peridot Hotel, over 10
kilometers from the city center on the border of an industrial park – not
an attractive area for wandering and many disincentives in getting to the city center. Our driver was dismayed that we hadn’t been booked in the city
center “because there are so many interesting places to see.” Consequently, we largely saw the city through the eyes of
our tour guide.
My rule “one country, one palace/castle and one
church/cathedral/temple” avoids tourist fatigue; nevertheless, if we
want to see anything in India I had to ignore this rule. Fortunately, we weren’t inundated with palaces or temples, and the ones we visited were worthwhile. Serial trips allow us to absorb and connect palace details with what we saw last year, such as, floor sections with inlaid
marble from Agra and marble staircases from Rajastan. Ivory tusks and inlaid ivory were everywhere. Our guide emphasized that prohibitions against ivory are respected, and that
the last Maharajah gave up elephant hunting and went on to become a president of
WWF (World Wildlife Fund). The son of the last maharajah lives in the
palace, but he is a private person and missing from public pictures. He was elected to parliament several times,
but a political career has not materialized.
Our guide was informative and answered questions about
Hinduism clearly. During our trip we had seen groups of bare-footed men (some bare-chested) dressed in black sarongs. They were making a
pilgrimage. So why were they at the palace? Seems that they not only visit and
pray at temples they also visit tourist sites. While on pilgrimage they abstain
from tobacco, alcohol, meat, and sex.We also learned a little about the
marks on men's foreheads - three horizontal white stripes signified a follower of Shiva and two vertical stripes designated followers of Vishnu. The stripes are in white signifying purity. Some men will have other marking in different colors, but keepimg track of their meaning is a challenge.
From the palace we drove out of the city for the view and to visit a
temple with
Nandi, a bull said to have transported Shiva. The Mysore bull was carved from one stone; it is third largest Nandi statute in India.
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City view: State forest reserve in foreground, private (dry)
land in center |
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| Nandi - 15 feet high & 24 feet long |
We had lunch at
Om Shanthi, a coffee shop in the Siddharta.Hotel. Our guide suggested that we get
one thali and share it, but we couldn’t resist the opportunity to try both a have North
Indian and South Indian thali. Both were great, but we couldn’t manage to eat
the naan, puri, and parotta. We asked for the bill but we weren’t finished yet.
We each received ice cream (in a dixie cup) and a banana. An amazing and yummy
meal. (Unlike our tour of Rajistan we were not sent to restaurants crowded with tourists, we seemed to eat at local favorites.
After lunch we went to a silk factory – no activity, we saw
the loom and piles of silk - outside Mysore there are many busy silkworms at work.. Next we crossed the street to see sandalwood factory. Again no activity, but we saw the sample pieces of sandalwood and
plastic (ivory substitute) – the woods are colored and none are painted. Our factory guide explained the process. Then she showed us
massive tables (seating 14 comfortably); one depicted village scenes. The guide may have thought that we would buy one (hope springs eternal). Convinced that we wouldn't she showed us beautifully crafted carvings (mostly of Ganish).
She suggested that if we bought one it become a family heirloom. I am not sure
if Colin and Brendan are in the market for more family heirlooms, so if we buy
such a piece it won’t be on this trip. All in all we were not subjected to the
intense pressure of Rajasthan sales people.
Our last stop was at the fruit and vegetable market – it was
clean and lacked the awful smells of wet markets (which include a meat
section). This market was built nearly
a century ago and has over 735 vendors working 365 days per year from 6am to
10pm. We bought a kilo of oranges for USD 0.60! They allowed us to skip the
hotel’s mediocre (I am being kind) breakfast. The guide also gave a locally
famous sweet – drop dead sweet. Doug was
sorely tempted to purchase samples of vegetable dyes, which were were displayed in colorful cones
throughout the market.
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| Dyes for body markings, painting, and holi |
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One of many flower stalls: Flowers are used for
devotions and weddings |
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Wondering what is in yam ice cream? It is the purple vegeable
in the background |
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| Another display of fruit |
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| V. Venkatesh |
Our guide was V. Venkatesh (I am trying to verify his e-mail, can supply mobile if requested ).
Throughout the day he was informative pointing out various buildings and
answering our questions about Mysore, Hinduism, and Indian life. Guides can have one of three licenses: South, North, East or West India; a state license; or for monuments. We have found that guides licensed for south Indian are the best; they seem more comfortable with English and have a greater breadth of knowledge. Here are a few things we
learned from Venkatesh. Indians love cricket, cinema, and mobile phones. Some elements of the caste system remain, primarily in choice of marriage partner. Our guide felt that neighboring Kerala was heavily promoted, but Karnatata has a lot to offer. His favorite place in India, other than Mysore, was
Pattadakal in northern Karnataka. Karnataka's previous minister of tourism (resigned August 2011) is in prison, which my explain the limited effort to promote the state. A good time to visit Mysore is the 10 day festival
Dasara (or Dusserah) held in late September - early October. From our guide's description and information on the web this is something that we will want to attend. So much to see in India, so hard to make choices
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