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Published: September 11th 2008
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a house
On the edges of Mysore. It was my first real trip out of Bangalore. The sights from the road were as good if not better than the views in Mysore. I remember being very inspired by the landscape. The rice fields were a brilliant green and the farmers were all bent over in the fields. Small weather worn buildings appeared on the landscape occasionally. They were hard to miss with their bright blue Reliance advertisements painted stencil perfect. I have noticed the roads here are never empty. Even the remotest dirt road is there for a purpose and I love that detail about life here. There is purpose, a necessary need and little to fall back on except for some wonderful looking clouds. In Hindu mythology, the clouds were looked on as evil because they kept the water all for themselves. How is that any different than a woman hidden under a veil? A cultural where women are hidden is like a landscape without rain.
First we stopped at the summer garden palace of the ruler Tippu Sultan. I couldn't take photos on the inside because of light exposure to the paint. I get that alot here. The inside was gorgeous however and it was
a field
On the road to Mysore. painted from floor to ceiling in intricate patterns and grooved woodwork. The palace was constructed after Tippu's defeat over the British. While we were trying to leave our driver ran into an auto-rickshaw which had stopped right behind the van. There were some women in the auto, but all that resulted was a bent fender. Apparently that was enough to keep us there for almost a half an hour while a mob of men collected and the ordeal finally came to a close. The next stop was Tippu's mausoleum. Here we were asked to pose in front of his casket with a family! And we did...
After that was Mysore Palace, the most splendid palace in India. It trully was something out of a storybook. My favorite room was the ceremonial wedding room. Blue pillars stood over twenty feet high and the stained glass dome was decorated in peacocks and butterflies. The entire building is made out of different types of carved stone. There were two palaces built in the same spot before this one and some of the foundation stones remain from the originals. They were both destroyed in some kind of fire related accidents. The ornateness and
the detail work of the entire palace just blew me away. It took nearly 15 years to build and it is one of the most expensive palaces ever built. At night on Sundays they literally light it up with some million lights that make it glow yellow. I didn't get to see it that, but I did get to see it lit up at night in its normal lighting and it was beautiful.
In the evening I visited the Brindavan Gardens which are right next to the Krishnaraja Sagar dam. The dam blocks the Kaveri river and was built in accordance with the gardens during the reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, ruler of Mysore Kingdom. The dam is 125 ft tall and 3.5km long. It was phenomenal, especially at night with the sky above it lit up during the sunset while our side of the dam was left in shadow. There were a few awkward moments with people asking us to shake our hands and have their pictures taken with us in front of a painted picture of Gandhi. Walking across the bridge that spanned the Kaveri river was wonderful and the musical fountain light show was my first
experience of Indian enthusiasm. The crowd went wild when popular songs came over the speakers and it was hard to hear India's anthem being played with all of the people singing along with it at the end.
The next day we visited an assortment of temples. My favorite was on top of the tallest hill in Mysore. It is one of the oldest temples in the area-- close to 300 years old. The stone was very grey and rough, not like the smoother stone I have encountered at other temples. There was an open skylight that helped illuminate the dark corners and a rough stone flower carving lay in the middle of the sun square. A strange scene were the rosary beeds which were hung on rusting metal bars inside the temple, the cobwebs moved with the draft around the dulled surface of the crosses and I wondered who put them there.
Afterwards we went to the palace of Tippu's sister. It has since been turned into a five star hotel. I am not quite sure what makes it five star. Possibly it's history and status and in that case I wouldn't care to stay there though it
was gorgeous. We were enjoying these very large circular pillow chairs until they realized we weren't going to buy anything and then the mood changed. There was a small courtyard with bird cages and a few dozen yellow squeaking finches and some cockatoos. I felt bad for them being in such a beautifully constructed place and unable to fly away. I felt very much the same way.
Overall Mysore was a good respite from the apartment in Bangalore but I am looking forward to seeing India without a guide. It is very restricting to have someone point everything out to you. The surprise and excitement is almost non-existent. I don't know how many times I purposely tried to lose myself for a little bit. Also, I have a feeling that the temple novelty is going to wear off soon. I respect the Hindu religion but the temples are all the same and it's strange to take off my shoes each time and walk through them as if I am there because that is not how it feels. It is almost as if I am seeing it from someone elses eyes, as if I am not really there. Perhaps it
is because I feel the absense of my own religion and it's not something I am ready to confront so I see these temples from a distance so to speak. To me there is more religion in the stacked fields and the broken buildings which stand as a testament to time and all that is changing. I have never actually been aware of change so much as I am in Bangalore with the crumbling brick building across the street which has since been covered in grey mortar and sealed smooth, or the old woman on the corner with her plum sari swaying as she talks on her cellphone. Not to mention my cubist style room in hotel Ginger where the walls were calming blue and clean lines like the LCD tv and outside the rolling window shade was a clothesline hanging near the dirt next to broken white curved railing and puddled rooves with barred windows. So many different outcomes. I am lost in the possibilities.
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Carol
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Picture
I really like the picture of the palace you've got here. Great perspective!