The Palace City

a statue
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I arrived in Mysore around 2pm. I got chatting to a local woman on the bus who was sat next to me. She was going to Bangalore in serach of work. She was telling me about her family and education and things to do and see. We shared some food together and had a coffee. She showed me some photos that she was taking to show her friends. In one of them she was telling me they were pictures of her maturing ceremony. I asked what that was all about. Apparently women celebrate reaching puberty as a sign that they are finally a woman and not a child. They get all dressed up in nice clothes usually a sari as girls usually wear salwaar kameez and women wear saris, and do some rituals and eat. We don;t do anything like that that I know of, but have made a mental note to ask my folks about it.

the Palace gate
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I went in search of a hotel as I hadn't booked a room. I found one after looking at a few. I checked in and went to get some lunch. After lunch I asked the hotel staff where I could go or what to do. He suggested I go visit Brindavan gardens which has a singing fountainin the evenings. So I went off to the bus station to make my way there. However after an hour waiting for the bus I gave up as it would be dark by the time I got there and I wanted to see the gardens in some daylight before getting dark as they are meant to be really pretty. I walked around for a bit and went to get a cuppa. I didn't fancy any dinner as my lunch had been big. I had a thali, so I got some nibbles for later and had a look in some of the shops. Mysore is famous for sandalwood and smelling oils. So lots of shops were selling incense and sandalwood products aswell as health oils. I didn't buy any, just had a look.  After a while I was tired and headed back to the hotel. I watched the news headlines in their common room and then headed to bed.

a temple view from the Palace
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The next morning after breakfast I headed to the Maharaja's Palace. We weren't allowed to take any photos, so I will try my best to describe it. It's an amazing building. It was constructed by Henry Irwin an English architect in 1912 at a cost of 4.2 million Rupees. This one replced the original one which had burnt down in 1897. The architectural style of the palace is commonly described as Indo-Saracenic, and blends together Hindu, Muslim, Rajput & 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.

flowers
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We had to leave our shoes and give in our cameras outside before entering the palace. I walked in to a long corridor which showed various items & artifacts behind glass, that had belonged to the royal family. The next corridor showed many paintings to do with war. Often men in uniform would be on horses setting off for battle. There were many of these paintings all slightly different. This corridor surrounded the main courtyard that had huge tiles on the floor. The next room showed portraits of the Royal family. I followed the signs upstairs to a huge room with mirrors and stained glass and brightly painted (think it was aqua & gold). There were many paintings on the walls of gods & goddesses and animals and flowers. It was a huge room, it had 4 chandaliers! This was defo the boldest room in the palace. All the others were tame in comparison.

the Palace gate
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After this I ended up outside the palace. There were a few temples around, but I didn't go to any. Just had a wander around and then sat and had a think about what to do next. I went for a walk as I couldn't decide if I wanted to go to see anything else. Everything involved either a bus journey or rickshaw ride and I just felt too lazy and it was too hot. Also I couldn't be bothered haggling with the rickshaw drivers. I found a lot of them to be rude and arrogant and I wasn't in the mood for all that nonsense.

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I walked past the clocktower and went for a nose in the shops. I went to get some lunch at a locals cafe and read for a while. I then went on the net for a while to update my blog. I found out that England were out of Euro 2008. Oh dear! After the net I went to get a cuppa and read some more, then walked some more. For the first time since being in India I was bored. I just didn't know what to do, so just walked and walked until I got tired. I had dinner and went back to the hotel to pack and bed. I was so glad to be leaving the next day.