Cool weather. This is one reason you have to visit the royal city, if not for anything else! In fact the first thing that struck me when I woke up was that the weather outside was cool and I knew I was in Karnataka!
After living in a hot, dry and polluted metro, a cool, green, relaxed Mysore was very refreshing. This place definitely has a charm about it, even beyond the bugging auto and tonga walahs. That too, this season was simply fantastic. An over cast sky with a slight drizzle once in a while, cool breeze with rich greenery and palaces around you... you must savour every minute of it!
Since it was a short visit, we just had about 1 day at Mysore. So we decided to visit the 12th century Chamundi temple and KRS. Not that we didnt want to visit the Palace, but we had very less time and we had visited it just about an year back. Since we did not visit the KRS last time, we settled for just these 2 places.
The drive up the Chamundi hills was enchanting. I was trying to catch glimpses of the Lalit Mahal all the way up. We had hired a cab thru our hotel’s travel desk and he charged us totally 550 for Chamundi & KRS, which we felt was pretty decent. The Goddess Chamundeeshwari happens to be the family deity of the Mysore Maharajas. Then we proceeded to the Brindavan Gardens. I had visited this place a long time ago when I was a kid. This time, though, there were quite some changes. For one, there is a new ’’South’’ Garden. Second, cars are allowed closer to the gardens and into a huge carpark near the boating area. Finally a tall (really tall) guy at the entrance! He must’ve been over 7 feet tall!
The ’’North’’ gardens hadn’t changed much. Still the manicured lawns, well groomed flowers, and fountains in the middle. We walked up the steps to the dam and watched the river Cauvery at dusk. We decided to walk across the dam to the South gardens, where a musical fountain show, we were told, starts at 7. We walked, walked and walked... almost about 1.5 kms before we came to steps that led us down. It was 7.20 by then and dark. Then we noticed that gates of the dam had been opened a little and the water was gushing out. We could only hear it and not see it all that clearly. Little did we realize, when we walked down the steps, that the path to the south gardens was just above the gates! Imagine walking inches above the gates of a dam with water gushing out at full speed! After walking through the dark, narrow and wet path, we finally reached the south gardens just in time for the second musical show of the evening.
The show was an experience in itself. I didn’t expect much as I had already seen the Musical Fountain at Sentosa (Singapore). But by any standards, the show was really good and a must-see. It kept me glued through out! After the show, we returned to Mysore.
The next day we proceeded to DoddaMallur, a small town near ChennaPatna (on the Bangalore-Mysore highway). We had heard from one of our friends about this 5th century temple and we decided to check it out. The temple was quite big and the entrance to the temple was covered with bright bougainvillaeas. The main deity was Sri Apremeyar. The main attraction of this temple was Lord Navneetha Krishna, though. It is a cute little Krishna, crawling, with a butter ball on his right hand. I have not seen Krishna in this pose in a temple before and he looked so cute with big eyes and butter smeared all over by the devotees! We spent well over 2 hours at this spot watching Abhisekam (bathing the deity using different offerings - milk, curd, sandal paste, etc).
We then proceeded to Bangalore. Again, a cool, green city. I dont think I need to talk much about Bangalore, it should have been reviewed a lot! Moreover, we spent just half a day, so cannot comment much! We visited the Kemp Fort Shiva statue and the ISKCON temple. Yes, from one end of the city to another! Anyway, both were worth the visit!
We stayed at the Maurya Palace in Mysore, which offers decent rooms for Rs. 575. There’s a Maurya Residency immediately next to it and also The Viceroy and Palace Plaza just a few blocks away. We had our meals at Veg Kourt in Maurya Residency. The food was ok and the service B-A-D. No one bothers to get you seated when you enter the restaurant, the rates in your bill vary from those printed in the menu and some or the other explanation is given when you question them, the bill is thrust into your hands, etc. etc. I suggest that you don’t eat here unless you can’t find any better restaurant!
Bangalore was cool! I can’t think of admiring a cosmo/metro city more than this (of course as a tourist!) Only two things irritated me in Bangalore.. the auto drivers, just to get more money, take you for a ride (literally) by taking one ways and going around the place in circles (which my friend in Bangalore called ’’Bangalore Darshan’’!). Second was the music in Pizza Hut in Brigade Road. It was loud by all means. I couldn’t hear what the person opposite me was talking. But the food compensated to an extent. The pizzas were better than the ones in Chennai Pizza Hut (Adyar & Nungambakkam).
Mysore is one place to visit if you are anywhere in Karnataka!