Historical time in Srirangapattana, a visit to a very special temple and a quiet start of the new year in Mysore

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Leaving Hassan after our great day in Shravanabelagola our next destination was Mysore, a city where we have been before (here is our last blog of Mysore). We had an Ok place to stay last time in Mysore but this time we wanted to be a bit closer to town. That is why we ended up in the famous MB International Hotel. It was indeed close to town, just a 10 minutes walk away from the Central bus stand. We were welcomed very friendly - our room was small but looked clean and ok. We were relieved as we had booked 4 nights here. We went for a quick walk around town and a bite to eat for dinner. As we had planned a special trip for the next day, we went to bed early - well, we tried to! When we entered into our room and switched on the lights we saw some small bugs running around in the bed. The very first time on our trips: bedbugs!!!!! We quickly killed the 5 bugs we saw and went down to the reception. They immediately offered us a new room, were very friendly and even helped us to move our unpacked stuff. You can immagine - in the next room we carefully checked the matrasse and the sheets, but everything looked fine. We were just very lucky that we discovered the bedbugs before going to bed! The rest of the night was quiet and bugfree ;-).



The following day we got up early, had a quick breakfast and went down again to the bus stand to catch a bus to Srirangapattana which is about 16 km away from Mysore. You can get on all the Bangalore bound buses which depart like every 5 minutes. So that was easy. After 40 minutes we arrived in Srirangapattana. Our reason for visiting this historical fort town was not its bloody history but the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple. For the deity of Sri Ranganathna, a manifestation of Mahavishnu (it is the lying form of Narayana) there are only five sacred sites of worship in India. They are together called Pancharanga Kshetram. One of theses places is this temple.



We entered the historical part of town by foot through the fort walls. First we came across the beautiful Jamia Masjid, a cream-coloured mosque with 2 minarets. There, you can walk upstairs and enjoy a nice view over the area. Unfortunately the weather was quite cloudy. We kept walking and passed Tipu's place of death (the place where famous Tipu Sultan was found after he had died). It is a peaceful little garden. Close by were the old police headquarters and the Water Gate. We continued our walk to Colonel Bailey dungeon where we sat down at the river observing the locals: kids were playing in the water, women doing some washing, some guys were cleaning themselves and others were washing dishes... From here it was a quick walk to the temple. We bought some offerings for the pooja and went in. Luckily, it was not very crowded. We had to wait in a queue for 20 minutes but without much hassle and much pushing. The temple is really beautiful with a huge statue of Sri Ranganathna. Actually the statue is a manifestation and not made by men! Really impressive! A swami made the pooja for us and we could feel a lot of power and energy this time. We even found some space to quietly sit down and meditate. It was really a wonderful experience. Inside, there was also a temple for Mahalakshmi, the goodess of inner and outer wealth and health. We could also do a pooja for her which was amazing. With many blessings and a really great experience we relaxed a little bit in the temple garden. We walked around the temple clockwise 1 time - this burns karma! And it is always good to loose some ;-)...... This was really the first temple, where we quietly could spend our time. Amazing!



After leaving the temple it was time for lunch. As everything is really spread out in Srirangapattana, we took a rickshaw to the Mayura River View Hotel. That was an excellent choice for having lunch. They have a nice terrasse overlooking the holy river Cauvery. The atmosphere was tranquil and peaceful, food was decent and later we could sit along the river and enjoy the sound of frogs. But, as there is more to see, we took the chance to visit some more places. First, Tipu's Summer Palace. It is a nice palace in a beautiful garden. But from the outside it is far less impressive than the Mysore Palace. Anyway, the interior which is made of 90% painted wood, is really amazing. Our last stop of the day was the Gumbaz, where Tipu Sultan is resting together with his father and his wife. The building is amazing and also the nearby mosque Masjid-E-Aska is worth a visit. As we walked to most of the sights we were really tired. We went back to the bus stand by rickshaw and quickly got a bus back to Mysore.



And it was new year's eve! So we had a quick shower and went down to town. There was nothing happening in town for new year's eve. Just some big hotels were having crazy parties where one could spent a lot of money. So we decided to have dinner in the tourist spot: the Parklane Hotel. Food is a bit expensive here, but the atmosphere is nice, the guests were totally mixed (some locals, some tourists) and we met a german lady. We talked, exchanged some travelling stories.... - till finally it was midnight. We welcomed the new year with some ginger tea! Wow, how healthy do we live in the meantime ;-)! The funny thing was that 10 minutes after midnight, the restaurant was closing already. So we even had an early night, as the streets were quiet and really nothing was going on. New Year's celebration in Mysore is not a big deal - even the palace was not lightened.



Well, it was a great day to end the year 2014 and a nice and quiet start into 2015. Let's see what the new year has in store for us.... More about our time in Mysore soon...





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Photos

Gumbaz
the resting place of the legendary Tipu Sultan, his father and his wife

selling fish in the plain heat without cooling
we are happy to be vegetarians...

Masjid-E-Aska
just next to the Gumbaz

water gate
the way leads to the holy river Cauvery

playful monkeys
at Colonel Bailey's dungeon

Darshan with Sri Ranganathna
which is the lying form of Narayana

Comments

[taracloud]

Happy New Year!
So glad that you finally found a temple where you could have time and space to meditate quietly. A good sign for the new year.

[holamundo]

Happy New year
Thank you. Hope you have also had a great start intolerant 2015. That it will be a year with lots of travels; -).

[D MJ Binkley]

2015 starts a new...
We always hold our breath before opening the door to a place where we are staying. We don't require luxury but at this point in our life we want clean and a private bathroom. We really want working internet but don't always get it and it is not the hill to die on. We've experienced bedbugs and you were lucky to see them and get moved. But that hotel has a big problem because they will spread quickly to all the rooms. Glad you burned off some karma. I didn't realize that was a possibility.

[RENanDREW]

Mysore
We ate at Parklane Restaurant too...and I was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was for a touristy place. Thinking back to all the temples I've walked clockwise around, I've burnt karma without even know it ;)

[holamundo]

Oh yes, the food is not too bad for a touristy place. Just a bit more expensive. Keep walking around the temples ;-)....... Happy travels.