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Splendors of Mysore
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On Friday late afternoon Doneth and I took off for Mysore. We called our driver and left for Mysore on Friday evening. I slept much of the way, a good thing too given how crazy everyone drives. Upon arriving in Mysore around 11pm we checked into Lalita Mahal Palace Hotel, and a real palace it was I tell you! Unfortunately for our purses the hotel silks store was open so we ended up buying a load of scarves, bedspreads and table runners. The thing I loved the most about this hotel was the bath tub in the bathroom - was so 30's retro.
The waterpiping was also very 30's - it was leaking from everywhere, half my shower water ended up on the bathroom floor. But the bathroom was so big that this formed no more than a puddle in the middle of the floor.
On the following morning I explored around the hotel a little bit before heading for an early 7.30am breakfast. The breakfast parlor itself was spectacular, in a beatiful baby blue and white.
Outside were two huge cages with a variety of parrots in them. The parrots made a hell of a noise, in fact I think that's what woke me up in the morning. After breakfast we checked out and left for the Chamundeshwari temple, where every single one of us got ripped off by the locals... after which I had my whits about me at all places of visit, worship etc. It seemed that each person that touched us or we walked by wanted money for something - an offering to the goddess, shoe rental, flowers and a spice, a donation for the temple, etc etc. The funniest thing were the monkeys outside the temple - we were told monkeys usually hang around temples.
Outside the temple of Chamundeshwari was a large statue of Statue of the demon Mahishasura battling with a snake. Legend goes that Mahishasura, whose abode was somewhere atop the Chamundi Hills around Mysore, wreaked havoc among the land. Goddess Chamundeshwari came down and defeated him in a 10 day battle.
After the temple we went to see Mysore Palace. It was beautiful from the outside but was under reconstruction and did not provide good photo opportunities. I was fascinated with the human chain moving dirt from one part of the garden to another. Its a really primitive method but I guess when human labor is cheaper than buying new machinery, it makes sense.
Interestingly, women work on construction projects alongside men, mostly hauling materials and waste from one location to another, on their heads of course. We had to leave our cameras in the car before heading inside, they don't allow photography and video for security reasons. A shame too, because the inside was stunning. Each room's walls were elaborately painted with scenes of Indian Moghul Festival processions, the doors had ornate carvings all over them; marble, silver and gold everywhere... the whole place feels very 'majestic', very 17th century.
Mysore Palace is most beautiful by night, which Doneth and I got to see on the way back from Kabini on Sunday. Its lit up by 96,000 lightbulbs. They only do this on Saturday and Sunday evening for 1 hour because the electricity bill is apparently quite high.
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