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!