Finally relish the grandeur of the Mysore: 15 Apr 2010

Mysore Palace, a view from the sports pavilion end

After Dubare. We drove back to Mysore and as we were approaching the city it started raining very heavily. It was very difficult to know where we were on the road the visibility very bad and since the windows had to be pulled up it got suffocating with 5 adults and a kid in there. I made several calls to the hotel to take directions and finally without much problems we reached there safe.

The hotel corridors were crowded and everything was rain soaked. Once before I had visited their restaurant so knew it was pretty good atleast when it came to food. We moved into the rooms. What to say about them, they were decorated in 70's style furniture and can you believe it, they took the Mysore tiger theme so seriously that they had everything done in cheetah prints! Urgh !!! However the building is a heritage structure so I liked the lobbies, the staircase and the facades. This was also the cheapest of the hotels in the KSTDC line up as it is bang in the city and does not have much of a view. However Mysore is a green city so you don't mind that much.

I love this picture of Charu eventhough she is out of focus.

Anyways we decided this was our last night halt so it would mean we were just goin to sleep in and leave early morning for a darshan of the ruling goddess of the region. We decided to have dinner at the restaurant and since we had nt got good food or familiar food in in the afternoon we decided to go all out. I placed the order for Soups, Gobi Manchurian, masala papads, 5 Punjabi curries and 12 Naans! That's where I made a mistake. Their Naans were very big and we could not eat even half of the ordered Naans. Also because we ate other things too. So got it packed to feed the dogs in the morning. None of us wanted dessert immediately so we decided to have dessert in bed. Sumeet got Kulfi candy for all. As usual Sapna had hardly eaten and the kulfi was her actual dinner. Ah the delicate darling that she is!

Finally we went off to bed at 10 pm after I had all of them rolling in a one double bed and shooed them off to their own, also warning them not to stay up to late at night as we had to go early in the morning to the Chamundeshwari temple.

I woke up at 5.30 am and had a liesurly bath in the kingsized bathroom. He he the bathroom and bedrooms were of the same size! Any analysis on why? I woke up everyone and by 6.30am everyone was ready to go.  The rain had stopped and the fresh air was envigorating. The trees all washed clean and the road in front of the hotel looked majestic.

We drove up the Chamundi hills. The sun was bright already and the fog was rising over the city. It felt wonderful to get glimpses of the greenery and the dense city at the foothills. We got a good darshan of the Chamundeshwari as it was morning time and the tourist rush had not yet started. We then loitered around a bit, feeding dogs with the previous nights Naans and  had coconut water. After that we returned to the hotel for breakfast of Mysore Masala dosa and hot filter coffee. The dosa was a perfect gold on the outside and spongy white on the inside coated with red garlic chutney. The mashed potatoes perfectly spiced. Making it a hearty breakfast.

 Pranav poses with the demon Mahishasur, the asur with bull's strength whom the Goddess Chamundi killed and saved this land of Mysore

We were all set to go to the Mysore Palace. The Palace opens only at 9 am but we thought it was good idea to go early to buy our entry tickets and we were one of the first in the line. After removing our footwear at the entrance of the palace building we started moving along the marked path oohing and aahing at the grandeur of the Wodeyar Royal's belongings on display and the magnificent rooms and darbars. My favorite are the peacock room and the sports pavillion. The peacock rooms amazing skylight with belgian stained glass. The sports pavillion with its painted ceilings influenced by European style but telling a different story. They narrated the Indian mythology. Every panel in the pavilion is intricately painted. Why the entire palace is painstakingly decorated either with paintings, the doors with silver metal work and ivory inlays. The doors and doorways carved in sandalwood and teak.

It takes atleast an hour and a half to walk around the new palace and atleast 30 mins to see the old wooden palace.

Take the virtual tour through the Mysore Palace.

We then decide to go to the Mysore zoo. It is the biggest zoo I have seen till date. The electrical vehicle was not running when we went there so we walked around. Me and Charu lost steam after a couple of Kms. Pranav was enjoying the Zoo so Sumeet and Sapna walked him around while we short circuited the path and sat under a tree awating them.

I would actually suggest that if you have kids with you plan a separate day at the zoo. You too will enjoy it with the kids. The good thing about the Zoo is it very well landscaped and  you see the animals in almost their natural habitat. It is very tiring to do both the palace and the zoo back to back.

Birds in canopy nets, they fly over our head.

Post lunch at another pathetic place we drove homewards to Bangalore.

In all it was a wonderful time with family but we did too many places in a span of 5 days and that's where Sumeet wanted it slow. I thought it was a good plan for Charu as I know she will not be able to make it again soon.

The tour is over !