Mysore is not far in distance from Bengaluru. In fact, when people speak of visiting Bengaluru, it's often "Bangalore and Mysore." Maybe because Mysore rhymes with the old name. So we decided to take a short (4 hour) drive to Mysore.
Along the way we stopped at a recognizable highway establishment, McDonald's. This McDonald's, however, is unlike any that you've been to (unless you've been to India). The person taking your order greets you with a "Namaste," with her palms pressed together. At this Mickey D's, there are no Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, or Big N Tastys. No sir, that would be sacrilege. The menu offered chicken nuggets, McSpicy Chicken, and Mc SpicyPaneer, a patty of cheese that's breaded and fried. The closest thing that we have to that is fried mozzarella sticks.
Mysore Palace is the official residence of the Wodeyars, who ruled the kingdom from 1399 until Indian independence in 1947. After independence, the former king, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur, served in various political posts and as the Maharaja of Mysore until the Indian government abolished the Maharaja titles. He died in 1974 and was "succeeded," as head of the dynasty by his son Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahadur, who resides somewhere in the palace.
Mysore is famous for sandalwood. In fact, the previous Mysore palace was built of sandalwood, but it burned in the 1890's, during the wedding of the Maharaja's daughter. The things that people will do to avoid an arranged marriage. The new palace was completed in 1912. The scaffolding makes it look like it's still under construction, but that's for renovations.
Cameras are virtually forbidden inside the palace, so if you want to see inside, take the virtual tour. By "virtually forbidden," I mean that cell phone cameras are allowed. The light in the palace, however, is insufficient for a decent phone picture.
After touring the palace, we retrieved our cameras and decided to go for a ride. Tourists can pick from elephants or camels. We chose the elephant. After all, you can't go to India and not ride an elephant.
After the elephant rides, some of us walked around the palace grounds while others rested. When it was time to leave, we walked through a gauntlet of stalls where vendors had everything from hand-crafted items to cheap plastic toys. We stopped at one stall to negotiate the purchase of a wooden, hand-carved tray. When we were done, or at least we thought we were done, the vendors followed us all the way back to the van, showing us more stuff that we "needed." If we said "no," one vendor kept talking while a runner went back to the stall to get more items.
We finally bought three trays. The price drop the further you get from the stall and hit rock bottom when you're in your vehicle. After this, we headed to Brindavan Gardens.
 |
| "McSpicy Attack" just doesn't sound right |
Mysore Palace is the official residence of the Wodeyars, who ruled the kingdom from 1399 until Indian independence in 1947. After independence, the former king, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur, served in various political posts and as the Maharaja of Mysore until the Indian government abolished the Maharaja titles. He died in 1974 and was "succeeded," as head of the dynasty by his son Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahadur, who resides somewhere in the palace.
Mysore is famous for sandalwood. In fact, the previous Mysore palace was built of sandalwood, but it burned in the 1890's, during the wedding of the Maharaja's daughter. The things that people will do to avoid an arranged marriage. The new palace was completed in 1912. The scaffolding makes it look like it's still under construction, but that's for renovations.
Cameras are virtually forbidden inside the palace, so if you want to see inside, take the virtual tour. By "virtually forbidden," I mean that cell phone cameras are allowed. The light in the palace, however, is insufficient for a decent phone picture.
After touring the palace, we retrieved our cameras and decided to go for a ride. Tourists can pick from elephants or camels. We chose the elephant. After all, you can't go to India and not ride an elephant.
After the elephant rides, some of us walked around the palace grounds while others rested. When it was time to leave, we walked through a gauntlet of stalls where vendors had everything from hand-crafted items to cheap plastic toys. We stopped at one stall to negotiate the purchase of a wooden, hand-carved tray. When we were done, or at least we thought we were done, the vendors followed us all the way back to the van, showing us more stuff that we "needed." If we said "no," one vendor kept talking while a runner went back to the stall to get more items.
We finally bought three trays. The price drop the further you get from the stall and hit rock bottom when you're in your vehicle. After this, we headed to Brindavan Gardens.
No comments:
Post a Comment