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Published: April 19th 2010
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A leaking bus took us overnight via OOTY to the town of Mysore, famed for several things, most notably its amazing palace and profusion of skilled craftsmen in hundreds of fields.
We spent several fun filled days wandering the very colourful streets. We came across "cottage Industry" style production of Beedies (small cigarettes made of leaves and cheap tobacco), incense (hand rolled by local widows from a fine charcoal paste, and then mixed with an infusion of distilled oils), and a variety of local craftsmen producing a huge assortment of goods from guns, to tables inlaid with fine pearl.
Attending the local market was a feast for all our senses. The different smells from each row of stalls packed with unrecognisable fruits and vegetables intermingled with stalls selling incense, distilled oils and spices. Some stalls were packed with comically high piles of coloured dyes, that were almost too intense to look at; while other stalls seemed to just sell old locks.
Spying a locally recommended confectionary, we all suffered a serious collective sugar rush by sampling the local sweet delicacies, including Mysore Kap (a smoky, sweet desert, made up of chickpeas and palm sugar).
We went up
to Chamundi Hill (one of the 8 most sacred hills in India - not too sure where all the others are), to look at the Shrines dedicated to the defeat of the demon Mysore by Parvati, Shiva's consort.
We ambled down the local lover's lane, which was full of young local Indians canoodling on the way down (not very common in India). With over 1000 steps down the hill, that is a whole lot of canoodling.
After our sweaty sojourn down Chamundi Hill, we decided to visit the Mysore Palace, which rivals Windsor Castle for grandeur and elegance. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, after the original palace burnt down, it took over 14 years to complete. Such was the queen's concern that the new palace may burn down again, it is almost entirely free of wood, and is made up of marble and stone.
The sheer grandeur and epic scale of the palace, is truly something that needs to be seen.
Our eyes boggled at the level of intricate detail that had been built into the palace. Massive carved crystal doors, opened to grand halls, decorated with a bewildering profusion of glass, gold, marble,
ivory and silver by local craftsmen. We wandered through the halls trying to take in as much as we could, and eventually, jaws opened we returned to the streets.
Conveniently located just opposite the palace was an alley that we dubbed "snack lane" due to the number of dubbahs (small stalls selling spicy Indian food on the side of the road) that lined the street. Everything was made from fresh, in a dizzying display of skill by the stall owners. We ate Masala Dosa's (large eggy pancake filled with spice potato), veg manchurians, and Idlly's (kind of like a small steamed rice rolls) prepared in the local style. The food was excellent, and while we sat we were treated to an unexpected delight.
The Mysore Palace is covered in 96,000 light bulbs, and is normally only lit on Saturdays and Sundays in the evening. As we were in Mysore on Good Friday, the king had elected to light up the palace as a gift to the local people and allow everyone to walk around the grounds. Seeing the palace light up behind us, while we sat an ate was truly impressive. The palace, already truly stunning during the
day had somehow managed to transcend its earlier beauty, and become something unbelievable. The bulbs adorned every surface of the palace, and it floated in the darkness, like some kind of ethereal dream.
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