MYSORE toURISM

Sandalwood City! Everywhere you go in this beautiful city you'll find yourself surrounded by the lingering aromas of sandalwood, jasmine, rose, musk, frangipani & many others. Whenever you smell them again, you'll be reminded of this place. It's one of the major centers of incense manufacture in India, & scores of small, family- owned agarbati (incense) factories are scattered all over the world.

Until Independence the city was the seat of the Maharajas of Mysore, a princely state covering about a third of present- day Karnataka, centre of the city is a major attraction drawing the visitor from all over the world. Just south of the city is Chamundi Hill, which is topped by an important Siva Temple.

Maharaja Palace : The beautiful profile of this walled Indo- Saracenic palace, the seat of the maharajas of Maharajas, graces the city's skyline. It was built in 1907 at the cost of 4.2 million to replace the former palace which burned down.

Inside it's a kaleidoscope of stained glass, mirrors, gilt & gaudy colors. Some of it is undoubtedly over the top but there are also beautiful carved wooden doors & mosaic floors, as well as a whole series of mediocre, though historically interesting, paintings depicting life in Mysore during the British rule. Note the beautifully carved mahogany ceiling, solid silver doors, white marble floors &superb columned Durbar hall. The palace even has its own Hindu temple inside the walls, complete with gopuram (gateway tower). There is a good museum adjacent to it.

Chamundi Hill : You can spend a very pleasant half- day walking up (or, more sensibly, down) the 1000- odd steps to the top of the hill, where the temple to Sri Chamundeswari, stand 1062 meters above the sea level. There's some shade on the way & the views over the city & surrounding countryside are superb.

Three- quarters of the way up the hill you will come across the famous Nandi (Siva's bull) carved out of solid rock which, at five meters high, is one of the largest in India. It's always garlanded in flowers & constantly visited by bevies of pilgrims offering parsad (a sweet dish offered after the pray) to the priest in attendance there.

Jaganmohan Palace : Another place to worth a visit is the Jayachamarajendendra art gallery in Jaganmohan Palace. Not only dose it display paintings, particularly by Ravi Verma, but it is handicrafts, historical objects, of interest & rare musical instruments. The palace itself was built in 1861 & served as a royal auditorium.

Helping Facts

Airways : Mysore has its own domestic airport. And one can find the flights to all over the country from here.

Railways : Since Mysore is on the meter- gauge system & not on any of the major trunk routes, getting to any of India's other major cities, except Bangalore, involves the change of trains at some point.

Roadways : The central bus station is not far from the centre of Mysore. There is the time table available in English & you can make your reservations three days in advance. From the central bus stand you can get the non-stop buses to Banglore every 15 minutes from 5.45am to 9.30pm as well as super deluxe buses every hour from 6.30am to 7pm.

Climate : Climate over here in the summer season is much hot the temperature her in Mysore in the summer season remains around 34'C- 37'C. The temperature in the winter season it gets reduced & decreases up to 12'C- 14'C.

Further Connections : Bangalore, Mangalore, Hampi and Cochin.