Text and photos

Text and photos
by Graham Simmons

MYSORE, India (JP): The days start early in India! Arriving at
the unearthly hour of seven a.m. in Bangalore, the green capital
of Karnataka state in southern India, I'm told by my gracious
hosts that we're heading straight out of town. The point of the
excursion is a visit to Mysore, city of sandalwood and ancient
palaces, and ex-capital of a kingdom that was once the most
powerful in India. We might even get to meet the Maharaja, who
still graces Mysore Palace with his presence.

You travel to Mysore over a road so pot-holed that you suspect
it was only half-completed in the first place. This impression is
confirmed when it's explained that two-thirds of the money
earmarked for road-building goes straight into the engineer's or
local inspector's pockets, leaving virtually nothing for mere
bitumen.

But the scenery along the roadside compensates for the rigors
of travel a hundred times over. In this, the black-soil belt of
India, sugar cane and palms jostle for space against a backdrop
of granite hills, and the soil looks so fertile you could just
about eat it. Kalispet, the granite quarried in this district, is
world-famous, and has been used in the construction of government
buildings throughout India.

Villages you pass through have a distinctive style of
architecture seen nowhere else. Houses with open courtyards, in
the local Dombe Tholdi style of building, are vaguely reminiscent
of something from the Middle East. In the gaudiest of bright
color, these courtyards look relaxing and inviting.

Just past the village of Ramnagaram, we pass a place
billboarded as a "Sacred Plants Resort". As happens dozens of
times a day in India, such enigmatic notices make you curious:
you want to stop and see what lies behind the fence. But time,
that concept that has permeated even India, says "No."

We decide to do a little exploring, and take a branch off the
main road. The roadway now a little more than a country lane, but
still carries enough traffic to enable farmers to get their rice
threshed. With admirable laziness, they place the grain on the
road for passing cars and trucks to run over, a practice that is
at once easy and efficient.

We stop at a local village, one of the more than 600,000 in
India, to take a look at a jaggery factory. This product of the
sugar palm has a sweetness all its own, coarser and yet more
subtle than sugar cane. It's one of the staples of the Indian,
indispensable in what must be one of the most sweet-toothed
countries in the world.

Our destination is Somnathapura Temple, a supremely excellent
masterpiece dating back to around 1250 A.D. They say it took a
team of 500 sculptors over 40 years to complete. The upper
stories of the Temple are built out of chloraschist, a durable
form of soapstone, atop a granite foundation.

If you've visited any of the massive temples of Tamil Nadu,
Somnathapura comes as a surprise. Constructed by the Hoysala
dynasty, it post-dates the Chola temples of Tamil Nadu by a
couple of hundred years. Central to Hoysala temples are large
star-shaped pedestals, above which rise several stories of
intricately carved friezes. Somnathapura features carvings of
elephants, horses, warriors and yalis (a mythical creature that
is part crocodile, part elephant and part lion -- I'm sure I've
seen similar creatures at the pub). Above these friezes are
scenes of human life, and right at the top panels showing
episodes from the puranas, epic stories of the adventure of the
gods.

Around the perimeter of the temple are a series of little
cells, presumably once used by recluses (But why anyone would
want to shut themselves away in darkness in the midst of such
glorious surroundings is beyond my comprehension).

Outside the temple complex itself, the whole surrounding area
looks wealthy beyond the dreams of most Indians. Tractors work
irrigated fields, colorfully painted bullock cars ply the roads,
and a general air of purposefulness pervades daily activity. You
get the feeling that some unseen hand is guiding the prosperity
of this region.

Just a few kilometers further the road lies Mysore City, set
among rolling hills and towered over the biggest hill of them all
-- Chamundi Hill. This hump-backed hill is named after Chamundi
(another name for Parvati, the wife of Lord Shiva).

I was privileged to stay in the Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel --
an establishment that really has to be seen to be believed. The
magnificent domed main buildings of this former princely palace
displays an opulence that you normally associate only with rulers
whose subjects are unaware of their extravagance.

Centerpiece of the Lalitha Palace Hotel in the main dining-
room, with superb mother-of-pearl inlaid domes set above a huge
chamber embellished with sky blue and white stucco plasterwork.
The food served here is something really special, lending
credence to the claim that Indian cuisine is the world's finest,
and as yet largely undiscovered.

You can share a walk around the Lalitha Palace Hotel grounds
with strutting peacocks, or if that's not is the main energetic
enough, try out the tennis courts or the highly inviting swimming
pool. And it goes without saying that the guest rooms have all
the amenities you could want, including the option of turning off
the air conditioning and opening the windows!.

Mysore's main claim to magnificence is Mysore's "other"
palace, also known as The Mysore Palace or Amber Villas, right in
the center of town. The maharajas of Mysore have lived in a
palace on this site ever since the founding of the Mysore dynasty
in 1399 A.D., but due to fire, lighting and earthquakes, the
palace has been rebuilt several times.

The most recent rebuilding of the palace in 1897, was in
classic Indo-Saracenic style, following a design by the English
architect Henry Irwin. On Sundays and special holidays, the
palace is brilliantly illuminated by over 150,000 lights-bulbs
(Only in India could they afford to employ the people to change
the bulbs). To see the crowds of tourists from all over India and
around the world gaping in awe at the magnificent Marriage
Pavilion, with its red and gold walls and rosewood ceiling, is
testimony to the wonders of this place -- and to see a back-
packer gaping in awe at anything is pretty amazing too!

The current maharaja now lives in another palace, built for
him by the government. Despite the stuffed elephant heads you see
in the Amber Vilas, souvenirs of the maharaja's hunting exploits,
he is now a reformed man, and even served a time as head of the
World Wildlife Fund. A former member of Parliament in the ruling
Congress Party, he recently switched to the fundamentalist BJP --
and lost (it is said that he forgot to tell the voters he'd
changed parties).

Nowadays, sandalwood is Mysore's main raison d'etre. Its
fragrant aroma permeates the city, and in the emporiums dotted
around town you can buy almost anything made of sandalwood,
including statuary, cigar boxes, lampstands, even furniture, as
well as the ubiquitous chandan, or sandalwood incense.

Atop Chanmundi Hill sits Chamundeswari Temple, dedicated to
the goddess Durga (Chanmundeswari). A full 1,000 metres above
Mysore, this place buzzes with an extraordinary energy. At the
time of our visit, the temple grounds swarmed with black dhoti-
clad followers of the Keralan cult figure Sri Ayyappan, who were
on the long and arduous pilgrimage across South India's mountains
to Ayyappans shrine at Sabarimalai. Coaches from all over India
bring additional crowds of visitors to the temple (open 730-1400
and 1530-1800), where priests dispense blessings to the faithful
throng. A walk around the temple is recommended, this being
compared by the local cognoscenti to an electron going around the
nucleus of an atom.

The views from Chamundi Hill are spectacular, as is the
hilltop itself. Walking past the many bazaar stalls lining the
path to the temple, you fell for a moment as though teleported to
Darjeeling in North India. These two places share many common
themes, including surprisingly, large numbers of Tibetan
refugees.

On the side of Chamundi Hill is the statue of the wise old
bull. Bulls and cows are pretty smart if they can get reborn in
India, where they can live a pampered existence proper to their
tranquil disposition. This black-granite Nandi looks contented
and peaceful, happy to be surrounded by his friends. A sign of
the wall of the state-enclosure proclaims this place as a
Karnataka protected shrine, with penalty for infringement of
three months imprisonment or Rs 2,000 in fine, or both.

Mysore is the jumping off point for excursions to many other
places of interest. Within easy reach of the city are a bird
sanctuary and three wildlife sanctuaries, including the Bandipur
Game Sanctuary (80km from Mysore on the Ootacamund Road). This,
one of India's largest game sanctuaries, is dedicated to the
preservation of the Indian tiger, and is also home to bison,
spotted deer, elephant, black panthers and leopards. Good
accommodation is available in inexpensive Forest Lodges.

Mysore's other sights include St. Joseph's Cathedral (formerly
St. Philomenas Church), the largest church in South India, and
just 19 km out of town the impressive Brindaven Garden, floodlit
at night.

Just linger a while in Mysore, and you start to unwind. An
evening stroll through the city's many parks, thronged with
cricket players and couples decked out in their best finery, is a
sheer delight. You may well find that, when you finally take your
leave, some of Mysore's magnificence has rubbed off!