Mysore – The Cultural Capital of Karnataka

  •   Mon, Jun 01 2009
  •   by Melisha Noronha

October 18, 2009
Mangalore
 
Bogged down by pressing deadlines, meeting targets, drab boardroom meetings and mere boredom, the four of us - colleagues decided to take that much-needed break. And the nearest and the best escape had to be Mysore.
 
The world famous Dasara celebrations were at hand and were drawing thousands from across the globe, us included. But thanks to our slow planning and untimely effort through out the nine days of Dasara (the Navaratri), we managed to make it just after the curtains fell over Mysore's annual festivities.
 
What could be more unfortunate than to be in Mysore during the Dasara and miss the royal fiesta? Nonetheless, it was time to make the most of the trip and not worry over days gone by.
 
Driving to various destinations had always been a passion among us and the Bangalore - Mysore highway is definitely the dream road of any average Indian traveler. Flowery road dividers all along minus potholes made the travel extremely pleasant and got us into Mysore city in less than three hours.
 
The day after the closing ceremony of the Dasara saw the palatial town rushing back to normalcy. Pandals being dismantled, roads being cleaned, make-shift stalls wrapping up stocks and numerous tourists packing their bags heading home, were a common scene.
 
Despite the missing festivities, as we began driving on the streets of Mysore, the magic of the city began to captivate us. All around there were glimpses of a royal kingdom that once ruled the state. The Wodeyars who made Mysore their home reigned in the state for over five centuries and have left their mark for ages to come.
 
We decided to take our first stop at St Philomena's Church. This magnificent structure which is over 200 years old boasts of ancient Gothic architecture and was built during the reign of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. It is one of the largest churches in Asia with its most prominent attractions being the towers or spires. These towers resemble that of a cathedral in Cologne in Germany and those of St Patrick's Church in New York.

The two spires are 175 feet tall. The exterior has pale grey walls giving it a very beautifully designed archaic image while the stain glass paintings on the interiors add colour and brightness. The Church stands as a monument to the secular outlook of the Mysore rulers and houses the relic of the third century St Philomena that is in a beautiful catacomb below the main altar.
 
Also known as the City of Palaces and true to every word, rich and traditional architectural buildings here are a common sight. Our next stop was the main attraction - the Mysore Palace or the Amba Vilas, the official residence of the royal family of Mysore and also houses the durbar (ceremonial meeting hall of the royal court).
 
History tells us that the Wodeyar kings built a palace in Mysore in the 14th century, but this palace was partially damaged by lightening that struck in 1638. It was repaired and expanded, but fell into neglect by the late 18th century. It was demolished in 1793, and a new palace was built in its place in 1803. This palace was destroyed in a fire accident in 1897. A British architect, Henry Irwin, was directed to build yet another palace in its place by combining different styles of architecture and the same was completed in 1912.
 
The architectural style of the palace is commonly described as Indo-Saracenic, and blends together Hindu, Muslim, Rajput, and Gothic styles of architecture. It is a three-storied stone structure, with marble domes and a 145 ft five-storied tower. The palace is surrounded by a large garden.


 
As I stepped foot into the palace, it was as if my history text books came alive. I did visit the palace once before as a child and ran through the corridors playfully touching every pillar and artifact in sight. But this time, I walked the same corridors filled with praise and admiration for this splendid beauty of art and culture. The Wodeyars were patrons of art and this is proved right in every inch of the grandeur of the palace. Be it the royal tiger sculptures at the entrance, the ornate stain glass ceiling, the intricately-carved doors or the marvelous paintings, this palace enthralls every visitor who cherishes history of a glorious era.
 
The palace by night is a must-watch delight with thousands of lights being lit giving it a golden glow against the dark skies. The illumination is at its best during the Dasara festival where activity and celebrations fill the large expanse of the palace. The traditions that were followed for centuries are repeated each year to commemorate the life of the Royals.

A trip through the entire palace left us all lost for words. It was a time-travel transporting us into a different era altogether and now it was time to step back into modernity and move to our next destination - the Mysore Zoo or the Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens.
 
Like curious children we watched the cotton candy and colourful balloons at the entrance as the tickets were being bought. Visiting a zoo brought back many memories of mirthful childhood where we walked past each enclosure naming the animals and the curiosity in us pushing us to ask numerous questions.
 
This time around, we strolled around like mature adults appreciating the improved infrastructure, the maintenance, the present government and its initiatives. But as we sighted the first giraffe at the entrance, all the maturity vanished and childish excitement took the better of us. Counting the giraffe....."One, two and there you go.....three" did not make us any different from the five year old next to us.
 
As we roamed through the lush-green environs of the zoo, we got to see many animals which we had left behind in our school books and on NGC programmes. But soon sadness tugged our hearts while we saw restless animals caged and curious on-lookers teasing them. It was very evident from the animals' behaviour that they panicked looking at the hooting crowd. We decided it was not right to stay for long and mar our happy moods. It was time to call   it a day.
 
There were many other places we wished to visit but time did not permit.Some of the other important tourist attractions are Chamundi Hills, the Jaganmohan Palace which houses the art gallery, the Lalit Mahal Palace and the Brindavan gardens amongst many others. And while in Mysore do not forget to try the biryani at the forever-packed RRR restaurant. We were not so lucky as we were too hungry to wait for our turn. We tried out Park Lane hotel which was pretty good but a little on the expensive side. Also never leave Mysore without tasting the famous Mysore pak and the Mysore masala dosa.
 
Once we had our hearts' fill, with memories to last a longtime and photographs to bring them alive once again, we bid adieu to the Royal city of Mysore only to come back next year and definitely in time for the Dasara.

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by Melisha Noronha
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Comment on this article

  • Girish Deshpande, bangalore

    Thu, Nov 06 2008

    Mysore dasara is really a wonderful event which you should witnes atleast once in your life time. its really a place of joy should be proud to be in karnataka

  • Raja Chandra, Bangalore

    Tue, Oct 21 2008

    You have stated: This magnificent structure which is over 200 years old boasts of ancient Gothic architecture and was built during the reign of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. You are wrong and yet right too. A church known as St. Joseph Church was built by Maharaja Mummadi Krsihna Raja Wodeyar in 1843 at the same location. But the foundation stone for the New Building as you see today , was laid by the his grand son Nalvadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar on 28Th October 1933.

  • Raja Chandra, Bangalore

    Tue, Oct 21 2008

    Your article states: History tells us that the Wodeyar kings built a palace in Mysore in the 14th century, but this palace was partially damaged by lightening that struck in 1638. It was repaired and expanded, but fell into neglect by the late 18th century. It was demolished in 1793, and a new palace was built in its place in 1803. This palace was destroyed in a fire accident in 1897. A British architect, Henry Irwin, was directed to build yet another palace in its place by combining different styles of architecture and the same was completed in 1912. There is nothing Historical to suggest a Palace was built in the 14Th century. No doubt Wodeyar dynasty was founded in 1399. But very little record to show the seat of power was at the present Mysore Fort. It was known as Hadadana then. Again there is nothing to substantiate in 1638 lightening destroyed a Palace in Mysore.

    Ranadhira Kanteerva (1638-1659) did expand and added many new wings to the Mysore Palace during his reign but certainly not in 1638 as he was kept busy by his enemies all the time in the beginning of his reign. Any was as the Wodeyars had shifted their capital to Srirangapatna by 1610, the Palace at Mysore was not occupied by the Wodeyars. In 1787, Tipu destroyed the Town of Mysore and shifted the population to Shahar Gumbaz and tried building a New fort near by elevated place which he called Nazrabad. But after the fall of Tipu in 1799, Wodeyars were shifted back to Mysore by the British and a New Palace and fort was built within which the populace stayed and Mysore flourished over the years.

    During a wedding of Princess in 1897, The Palace was destroyed and the Present Palace was built. It is wrong to say it was completed in 1912, as the present Public Durbar Hall portion was built in late 1930.

  • Surendra Suvarna, Surathakal

    Sun, Oct 19 2008

    St. Philomena's Church is a very beautiful church with neat carving on the tall structure. I was unaware of the age of the church but I had guessed on seeing it during my visit to the church that it must be atleast 300 years old. We Indians should visit the heritage of India rather then spending money on foreign vacation.

  • NORBERT MENEZES, MYSORE DUBAI

    Sun, Oct 19 2008

    St Philomena's church is not 200 years old . It was built sometime betwen 1926 and 1933. The parish may be 200 years old

  • Nischal Ferrao & Fly, Belman/Muscat

    Sun, Oct 19 2008

    A very beautiful article Melisha and Thanks to Daiji for this.

  • Manoj Ja, Kuwait

    Mon, Oct 20 2008

    Mysore dasara is really a wonderful event which you should witnes atleast once in your life time. You can view the complete dasara 2008 images at mysorenext.com

  • Kabeer Kinnigoli, Riyadh / K.S.A

    Sat, Oct 18 2008

    Beautiful Snap Welldone daijiworld Also Melisha Noronha fantastic we will wait for like this articles............Daijiworld Ki Jai


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