Mysuru / Mysore sightseeing

I am resigned to the fact that I am a day late with my blips at present. So be it.


This was the programme for Sunday, according to my guide’s notes in the WhatsApp group:

“Departure for the sightseeing at 8 00 am.
At first we will visit Chamundwesari temple ( 30 mins drive from the hotel, no special dress code as we are not entering inside the temple)

Around 9 45 am we will reach at the hotel for a toilet break. Then we will go to Mysore palace (no shoes allowed inside the palace) after palace we will visit Devaraja market ( need to walk on uneven surfce)

After Market we will go to the Rail Musium( Rs 500 for camera). After lunch visit to somanathapur temple ( 1 hr journey from the hotel ) ( no strict dress code )

evening 6 15 pm we will go to the palace to see the illumination.
( Tomorrow's weather
Max 32 degrees Celsius
Min 19 degrees)”

It was amazingly full-on, and some people opted out of parts of it. I managed all, apart from the extra magic show in the evening, when I needed a cup of tea! Favourite parts: the colours of the enclosed market, and the skill of the garland weavers. I am going to have to install some collage making software, I can tell!

I also appreciated the ivory-inlaid door at the palace, which won a door-carving competition in London in 1930s, the switching-on of the lights at the palace in the evening (all the lights come on at once, it’s a Wow! moment). The intricate granite carvings at the Somnathapur temple, about an hour’s drive from Mysore are an incredible sight. The temple is now an archaeological site, but the skill of the carving is beyond anything that could be replicated nowadays. Unfortunately the faces on the carved figures and animals have been smashed by the army that sacked the temple in the 1400s. It is still a wonder, and I enjoyed being out of the city, and the feeling of my soles being scorched on hot stone. Two little boys playing on the lawn with a giant hosepipe also amused me. Eventually the guard noticed them, and blew his whistle at them….

: Pictures: The temple at Somanathapuram, market stall selling dyes for decorating the doorstep or stoop of the house, a garland maker at the market, domestic tourists at Mysore palace, the ivory-inlaid door at Mysore palace. This is my first attempt at using a new collage making app.