The Mysore Adventure

Let's go exploring!

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Spotted outside Big Bazaar. Cow poop drying on a tree. 

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Hearse carrying the body of Maharaja Srikantadutta Wodeyar entering the Mysore palace grounds in the wee hours of the morning (3:30am) on 11/12/13. Surreal. 

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Staircase in Devaraja Market. 

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Vermillion dusted testicles of Nandi,  the bull that Lord Shiva rides. This statue is 3/4 of the way up Chamundi Hill and is over 350 years old and was carved out of a boulder in situ. In January 2013, it was vandalized by a "mentally unstable person" – but we all know that it was simply a PR move by the local government to avoid unnecessary Hindu/Muslim violence. 

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Graffiti outside a tea stall near Sayajji Rao road. 

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bowls of rangoli powder in the market in mysore, india

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Freemason's Hall on Ashoka Road. It was built in 1879, and I can't find any more information about it. There's enough history and mystery in Mysore to fill a Dan Brown novel – I hope Robert Langdon comes here soon. 

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Town Hall aka Rangacharlu Memorial Hall

It was built in 1884 in memory of Cettipanyam Viravalli Rangacharlu – the first dewan of Mysore under direct British rule. It housed the municipal offices, and Nehru and Gandhi used to give speeches here when visiting Mysore. It also had a "radio room" where fancy people could go and listen to the radio. 

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A free-for-all at a railroad crossing. 

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Checking out Kautilya's Arthashastra  – one of the 45 manuscript treasures of India. 

The Oriental Research Institute, Mysore houses over 33,000 palm-leaf Sanskrit manuscripts. Every morning, librarians and graduate students comb through these fragile documents in order to determine their contents and catalogue them. 

In 1905, one scholar stumbled across this copy of the Arthashastra – the 4th century BC treatise on statecraft, economic policy, and military strategy authored by Chanakya (aka Kautilya). It was the first copy to be discovered in modern times.

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Scenes from the Mysore bus stand and Gandhi Square.

By Jamie V.

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Palm-leaf Sanskrit manuscripts deep in the stacks of the Oriental Research Institute. 

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Statue of Chamaraja Wadiyar at Chamaraja Circle aka Statue Square.

He died of diptheria at the age of 31. A marble statue sculpted by William Robert Colton (who also sculpted the 8 bronze tigers inside the palace) was commissioned in his honor. When the statue arrived from England in 1918, the queen realized that it looked nothing like her late husband, so she had the head broken off and redone. Also, his sword is stolen very often by miscreants. 

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One of the 98,260 palace lightbulbs. 

To discourage theft, the lightbulbs are a special size and cannot screw into any other bulb socket. Also, they are only 15 watts, which means that they won't overheat and shatter when it rains. The electricity bill for the palace comes to Rs. 8 lakhs or $16,000 a month.  

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The night-time crowd outside the ancient Trineshwara Swamy Temple – one of the twelve temples inside the Palace complex. The idol inside is a Shiva lingam with three eyes.

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Went for a walk and spotted these three cool trees. 

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Cattle Egrets eating alongside a Water Buffalo. 

By accompanying Water Buffalos into the marshes at Kukarahalli Kerre, the Cattle Egrets can easily catch all the insects and small animals that the WB disturbs.