Dasara in Mysore (Part 1)

Dasara Crowds (at Palace but every where else in Mysore)

Dasara in Mysore combines the exotic with the familiar. A 9 night Hindu festival, Navratri, leads up to Dasara on the 10th day. Dasara celebrates the victory of good, represented by the god Rama, over evil, represented by Ravana. 

In January when we visited Mysore our guide urged us to come for Dasara. We took his advice. At first we planned to handle everything ourselves, but then decided that the easiest way to travel to and from Bangalore and get a Gold Pass to Dasara events was to book with a travel agency. This was wise. It made just getting around was so much easier.

Raghunath - Tour Guide & Escort
Raghunath337@gmail.com

Our guide, “Ragu," was exceptional in putting Dasara in context. We started at Chamundi Hill where we walked along with the crowd streaming into the temple grounds. Along the way vendors were selling items for temple offerings, snacks, and the whimsical souvenirs of the moment – a favorite seemed to be devil’s horns. A queue was wrapped around the temple. It was the first of several queues we saw during the day.  For many Indians the observation that “life involves moving from queue to queue” is not an abstraction.

Devotees could break coconuts for good luck at the “breaking coconut pit.” An old couple “guarded” the pit, gathered broken coconuts either to share with their family or to sell to a restaurant. (The old man kept signaling that he wanted Doug to take his picture – an income producing opportunity.).Near the temple was a cart that is brought out once a year during Navratri An idol of the goddess Chamundi is placed on the cart, heavy ropes are attached, and allegedly 1000 men pull it counter clock wise around the temple. This led to a discussion with Raghu about the significance of going to the right. He said that going to the right keeps one in harmony with nature  (he put it more lyrically). He noted that if he did not get up on the right side of the bed for the rest of the day he would feel like something was wrong, that is, he didn't “get up on the right side of the bed.”

The temple is owned by the government so all donations go to the government. (In private temples this is not true and in one temple in Kerala a treasure trove valued at billions of dollars. God in India are allowed to own property, but they must be treated as minors. For further details see "The Secret of the Temple")

Vendor selling temple offerings

Portable ATM - Can't use "no money" as an excuse

Demon Mahishasura (killed by Chamundi)

From the temple 1008 steps lead to Nandi, the transport for Lord Shiva. We skipped the steps and took the car. We saw Nandi in January. Now he was decked out with flowers. At any time of the year he is impressive.

Along the way we saw decorate vehicles (auto rickshaws, lorries, and taxis), On the 9th day of Navrati in Karnataka "implements used in daily life such as computers, books, vehicles, or kitchen tools [are worshiped). The effort to see the divine in the tools and objects one uses in daily life is central to this celebration, so it includes all tools that help one earn one's livelihood. Knowledge workers go for books, pen or computers, farmers go for the plough and other agricultural tools, machinery for industrialists and cars/buses/trucks for the transportation workers—all are decorated with flowers and worshiped on this day invoking God's blessing for success in coming years."  {From

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navratri)

Even police vehicles are decorated

As was our hotel's elevator door

The  palace was closed until 2:00 so that the royal family could perform their devotions. We arrived at 2:00 and marveled at the long queues. The "magical"  Golden Pass allowed us to go to the head of the line. This privilege only went so far; it did not keep us from being squeezed by the throngs touring the palace.

Police doing crowd control - notice the Texas-style hats

In the palace we saw the howdah that an elephant carries in the Dasara procession. The howdah weighs 750 kilograms. To get an elephant prepared for this role the trainers introduce weight gradually. Carrying the howdah is an honor for an elephant and the locals follow the assignment of this role closely. The 54 year bull elephant who has done this for 14 years has been retired and the role has been taken over by a 52 year old elephant. Inside the palace as a wrestling ring – members of the royal family and probably some VIPs witness the wrestling match. When a winner is declared the procession will begin.

During Navrati the palace is illuminated from 7-9 all 9 nights. During the rest of the year it is illuminated on Sunday night. The palace was close to our hotel so we walked. Crossing the street was nearly impossible so we followed our strategy of standing very close to a local and cross when s/he crossed. At the palace people were sitting around and visiting and waiting for the lights to come on. Others were wander around and others were watching a cultural show.

Note the Dasara link at the beginning of this post is a video of the festivities.