On Saturday we took a day trip about 150 km south of Bangalore to the city of Mysore. Mysore used to be the capital of the state of Mysore, which is now the state of Karnataka. The former royal family used to live in the palaces in Mysore, and their descendents still do – however, since India is now a democracy, the maharaja seems to be really more of a figurehead.
We left early in the morning (around 7:00am) and arrived in Mysore around 10:00am. On the way into Mysore, we stopped at Dariya Daulat Bagh, the summer palace of Tipu Sultan. This palace was built in 1784 and is full of teak carvings. Nearly every surface is covered in colorful paintings, which were in remarkably good condition. Tipu Sultan and his father deposed the previous rulers of Mysore, and united with the French to battle the British invaders. Their cooperation with the French led to two victories against the British Army, but he was ultimately defeated in 1799 and his kingdom was annexed and partially returned to the previous ruling family.
After touring the palace, we walked around the beautiful grounds for a short time before getting back in the car and setting off for Chamundi Hill. Chamundi Hill is a great place for a panoramic view of Mysore, and is also the location of the Sri Chamundeswari Temple, home of the goddess Chamundi. On the way up the hill, we had to pull over to take pictures when we saw all the monkeys! They were very cute and a lot of fun to watch.
After lunch and some shopping, we headed off to Mysore Palace. This palace was built to replace one lost to fire in 1897, and was completed in 1912. The maharaja at the time was quite worldly, and commissioned a palace that combined the three religions of Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam in its architectural style. The exterior of the palace is permanently affixed with 96,000 light bulbs which are turned on during times of celebration. I’m sad we missed that occasion – it would have been amazing to see! The maharaja who built this palace was also instrumental in bringing electricity to the region as early as 1902, as he utilized the hydroelectric power that had been recently been developed in Niagara Falls. How amazing to travel so far from home and hear about something that is so familiar!
As we were leaving, we saw what may have been the highlight of the day – an elephant! Of course we had to get our picture taken with him before heading home.
We had a great but exhausting day :)
No comments:
Post a Comment