Places of interest

Mysore Palace


Having been the capital city of the Mysore Maharajas for over five centuries, the city has the gorgeous Palace of the Wodeyars. The residence of the Wodeyars, this structure is one of the largest and most ornate of its kind in India. Built in 1912 in the Indo Saracenic style, this palace excludes a grandeur that is unmatched. The Palace still continues to be the residential place of the prince of the erstwhile rulers. It is brilliantly lit-up during the 10-day long Dasara festivals, public holidays and weekends. The Golden Royal Elephant Throne, the Durbar Hall, the Kalyana Mantap and the Gallery are the main attractions here.There are nearly a dozen temples within the Palace fort.


Jaganmohan Palace

The Jaganmohan Palace, the oldest palace among the palaces, is now a renowned art gallery (Sir Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery) housing the collections of the Mysore rulers. This gallery has a collection of exquisite paintings dating back to 1875. The collection includes paintings by Raja Ravi Varma and Svetoslav Roerich among many others. It also houses some masterpieces of the traditional Mysore gold leaf style of painting. The palace was built in 1861 and served as a royal auditorium .

Mysore Zoo

Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens or Mysore zoo is one of the biggest of its kind in the country. The Mysore Zoo is famous for rare animals bred in captivity, which are housed in lush, green surroundings. Mysore zoo is the home of rare species of fauna. This is the first zoo in India where the birth of an elephant calf was filmed and telecast on television. The Mysore Zoo has a record of housing variety of species not only of this country but also from more than 40 countries in the world

Chamundi Temple

Towering over the city and about 13 km from Mysore by road are the Chamundi hills. The hills are home to Goddess Chamundi the slayer of the demon Mahishasura. The 2000-year-old Chamundeswari Temple is dedicated to the patron goddess of the royal family. There is a walking track of a 1000 steps, which the young at heart can try. Half way up is the Nandi Bull, a 4.8m statue exquisitely carved out of a single rock.

Lalitha Mahal Palace

The Lalitha Mahal Palace is situated 11kms from Mysore city on top of a small hillock. This Palace is set in the middle of sprawling terraced gardens. Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV commissioned this two-storied Palace in 1921. This Palace was built to exclusively to accommodate the Viceroy of India. E.W. Fritchley designed the Palace in the Renaissance style and included designs concepts from the Italian palazzo and English manor. This Palace meant for special royal guests has now been converted into a heritage category five-star hotel of India Tourism Development Corporation of the Government of India.

Vontikoppal

Sri Chandramoulishwara Swamy Temple of lord venkateshwara in V.V.Mohalla, is popularly known as Vontikoppal Eswara Temple. It is situated on KRS road, on the way to Vrindawan garden. It is a very beautiful place with old charm. Every September, a 10 day carnatic classical music festival is arranged for the Ganesha festival at the temple. During Dasehra festival, the lord Venkat and Rukmini are decorated with flowers and golden ornaments which is an eye-catching scene. There is special Rath(cart) for the Lord which is decorated on last day of navaratri for procession.

Festivals

India is a land of festivals and fairs.Every festival has some or the other traditional or religious importance.Every day of the year there is a festival celebrated in some part of the country. Some festivals welcome the seasons of the year, the harvest, the rains, or the full moon. Others celebrate religious occasions, the birthdays of divine beings, Saints, and gurus (the revered teachers), or the advent of the new year. A number of these festivals are common to most parts of India, however, they may be called by different names in the various parts of the country or may be celebrated in a different fashion.Every festival is celebrated in a unique style, and Mysore is no different, the most enjoyable ones include.....

Ugadi

Ugadi falls on the first day of the month of Chaitra, which marks the beginning of the Chandramana New Year in March-April. This festival is not associated with many rituals. After an oil bath, people wear new clothes, worship their deities and then eat a little quantity of mixture of neem juice, jaggery etc. This is to remind everyone that life is not a bed of roses but is a combination of happy and sorrowful events. Hearing of a new almanac is a significant event of the day. The agriculturists generally start their pre-sowing operations in the field on this day.

Dussera

Dussera is celebrated for 10 days from September end to early October. Although it is celebrated all over India, it has special significance in Mysore, South India. It symbolizes the victory of goddess Chamundeswari (Durga) over the demon Mahishasura. i.e. the victory of the good over the evil. Mysore palace is fully illuminated for a whole month. On the last day, with the accompaniment of a band colourfully bedecked elephant carrying the statue of goddess starts from the palace as a procession with palace chariots and units of the army through the city to Banni Mantap (where Banni tree is worshipped), about five kilometres away. In the evening, there is a torchlight parade by the horse mounted guards who provide an exciting display of horsemanship and the night ends with a great display of fireworks.

The Main Highlight:
Caparisoned elephants marching together in a procession are a unique feature of rhe Mysore Dassara. The festival is celebrated with a lot of pomp and show.
On Vijaydashami, the 10th day of the festival, a colourful procession featuring caparisoned elephants winding through the gaily-decorated streets of the city, mark the occasion.
The procession of mounted guardsmen on horse back and decorated elephants, one carrying the palace deity, Chamundeshwari, on a gold 'howdah' marches from the palace to the Banni Mantap.
There is also a floating festival in the temple tank at the foot of Chamundi Hill and a procession of chariots around the temple at the top. A torch light parade takes place in the evening followed by a massive firework display and much jubilation on the streets
Houses still follow the tradition of 'Bombe Habba', where children display their colourful and attractive dolls and invite friends over. Students worship Saraswathi, the Goddess of Learning.
Ayudha Pooja is also a part of the Dasara celebrations. All vehicles and and implements are worshipped on this day.

Kar Hunnive

This is observed on the Full moon day of Jyestha (June) by worshipping the bullocks and the agricultural implements. A special feast is prepared in the afternoon. In the evening a function called Karihariyodu is performed, in which the chief event is bullocks race. Many pairs of bullocks participate in the running race and the pair which come first is acclaimed by the public. If the bullocks which comes first are red or brown colour, it is supposed that red variety of jowar will grow in abundance during the ensuing season and if they are white in colour, white jowar is supposed to grow in plenty.

History

Mysore is the third largest city in Karnataka and gets its name from the demon Mahishasura who was slayed by goddess Chamundeshwari. And it is from this episode in mythology does Mysore gets two important things. One is its name itself Mahisuru from the demon's name who was the ruler here; Mahisuru later got corrupted as Mysore with time. The other thing is Chamundi Betta which is of as much significance to Mysore as perhaps the Eiffel tower to Paris.

Coming to the various dynasties that have ruled Mysore over the ages, we literally find the history of India itself from the chequered history of Mysore. Starting from 3rd century BC, the Satavahanas, the Kadambas, the Gangas, the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas, the Hoysalas, the Bahmanis, the Adil Shahs - each dynasty has left its mark on Mysore.

The Wodeyar family ruled Mysore from 1399 virtually until India got Independence in 1947 except for 38 years in the 18th century when Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan seized power. Raja Wodeyar (1576-1617) annexed Srirangapatana in 1610 and Bangalore a little later. Mysore was most prosperous during the reign of Chikkadevaraya who kept his distance from the rivalries of Mughals, Marathas and Nizams.

After Chikkadevaraya, the Wodeyar rulers became weak and Hyder Ali attacked and seized power, and established their headquarters at Srirangapatana. After the death of Tipu Sultan in 1799 power was restored to the Wodeyars. In 1831 the British took over the administration of Mysore. The Wodeyar rule persisted nevertheless and many reforms were introduced during their reign. The famous KRS Dam was built, several universities were opened, educational reforms were introduced leading to Mysore being called as a model state.

The people of Mysore were also actively involved in the freedom movement. After Independence, Mysore was acceded to the Union of India. In 1956 Mysore state was enlarged and on November 1, 1973 it was renamed Karnataka. And it was on March 15, 2000 that Infosys opened shop in Mysore.

Mysore

Once the cultural capital of South India - Mysore, is today a city of sacred temples, palaces and art. The city remains to be a charm for all the lovers of art. Mysore has always remained as one of the favorite tourist spots with the its rich cultural heritage, elegant temples and scenic places. As the years pass by, Mysore is slowly becoming a part of the IT revolution in the country. The city's IT-destination tag is yet another feather in its cap.

Mysore was the political capital of the Wodeyar dynasty which ruled the state of Karnataka for some 150 years till the independence of the country from the British. These kings were great patrons of art and culture and Mysore was the cultural capital of the south under the rule of the Wodeyars. The Wodeyars made the Dasara festival an event.

To showcase the rich culture and heritage of the town. Even to this date this celebration of the Dasara which is a 10 day celebration during the month of Oct/ Nov is a spectacular event to watch. Also the key attraction of Mysore is the festival Dussehra which is a 10 day festival which ends with a Grand procession called Jamboo Savari (elephant ride in the local language !). People flock from all over tthe world to view this spectacular event. Nowadays, there is a special train called Shatabdi Express (Centenary express) which connects Chennai (Madras), bangalore and Mysore.

Unlike the lighting of other structures, the Mysore palace has its lighting in a different way. The palace is outlined with huge arrays of lighting instead of light being projected on the structure!. This special lighting is what attracts thousands of visitors from all over. Mysore has every thing geographically ! A river Cauvery flows by Mysore, across which the Krishna Raja Sagar Dam (KRS for short) is built.Sir M Vishweshwariah was one of the most renowed engineers during his tenure. He is the architect of The world famous Brindavan Gardens. The famous Brindavan Gardens is also situated next ot the same Krishna Raja Sagar dam. The dam is named after the then Maharaja who was instrumental in its construction Krishna Rajendra Wodeyar.

A hill called Chamundi hills atop which a temple is located for the godess Chamundi.On the way to the hill top, a statue of 'Nandi' the bull is situated. This is the biggest stone statue of its kind and is carved out of a single monolithic rock ! To the right is the statue of Mahishasura the demon, whom godess Chamundi killed according to the legend.This statue is located at the top of the Chamundi hills and the name for 'Mysore' comes from his name.

Durbar Hall of Palace shows the beautiful interiors of the palace. There are many more wonders and works of art inside the palace all depecting the grandeur of the bygone era. There are many more palaces in and around Mysore. Prominent among them are the Rajendra Vilas Palace atop Chamundi hills and the Lalitha Mahal Palace which is now a five star hotel.

Mysore, the city of Palaces

This charismatic capital, of the old royal Mysore province allures travelers from all over the world. There's an old world charm about the city that reaches out and leaves no one untouched.

Mysore(means the town of Mahishasura) traces its history back to the mythical past, When Goddess Chamundeshwari killed the wicked buffalo-headed demon, Mahishasura. Hills dedicated to her stand at the eastern end of Mysore town today.

Mysore Dasara is the celebration of this victory of good over evil.Mysore also has associations with the Mahabharata and King Ashoka of the 3rd century B.C. During the Wodeyar rule Mysore reached the Zenith of its glory as a fabled centre of oriental splendour.

Today, Mysore is a vibrant city teeming with tourists and visitors. It is known the world over for its exotic sandalwood and rich silks. Its grand and imposing palaces, majestic temples, gardens leave an ever-lasting impression on the visitor.

Area:

Mysore district is 770m above the sea level and has an area of 6,268 sq.kms

Geographical Location:

Latitudinal parallels: 12°18' N

Longitudinal meridians: 76°42' E

Climate:

Summer (September to March)

Monsoon (June to August)

Winter (September to January)

Temperature:
The temperature ranges from a maximum of 35° C to about 17° C

Language:

Regional Language: Kannada

However English, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu are widely spoken.

Population:

The district has a population of 22,81,653 (1991 census)