Day Trip to Mysore

On Thursday, Muir and I hired a car and driver for an all day trip to the city of Mysore, about 90 miles southwest of Bangalore.  My main objective was to see the resplendent Mysore Palace, but the driver saved it for the last stop of the day and took us to several other historic and natural sites along the way.  We left at about 7AM, and it took about three hours to reach Mysore because of traffic and the biggest speed bumps you have ever seen planted all along the way.

Entrance gate to Tipu Sultan's palace

Our first stop was Tipu Sultan's summer palace.  The plaques around the palace didn't really talk about who he was, so you'll just have to Google it if you're interested.  I was shocked to read that the entrance fee for foreigners was 100 Rupees, only about $2 USD, but for Indians it was 5 Rupees.

The palace gardens and the palace at the end of the promenade.

The walls and ceilings were covered with colorful murals depicting battles during the Tipu Sultan's reign (1782-1799), but unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the palace.  The caretakers of the site had even hung woven screens around the outside to protect the delicate murals from bleaching in the sun.

The next stop was Tipu Sultan's mausoleum/mosque.  Naturally.  At this site, I learned another very common and noteworthy aspect of touring temples and monuments in India (besides the entrance fee discrimination).  At many buildings, especially temples, visitors are required to take off their shoes!  Removing one's shoes serves several purposes, among them: showing respect for the temple as sacred ground, keeping the interior (relatively) clean, extorting tourists for tip money for watching your shoes while you are inside, and getting your feet/socks incredibly dirty.  I didn't really like removing my shoes.

Cenotaphs inside Gumbaz mausoleum

Intricately painted dome ceiling of the mausoleum

St. Philomena's Church

Our first stop actually within Mysore city, was St. Philomena's Church.  Then we took a break for lunch, and were shepherded into a few local shops selling materials for sarees, carved sandalwood elephants, and other kinds of souvenirs.  We didn't purchase anything.

After lunch we were taken to another shop (again, we didn't buy anything), but this one at least had playful monkeys on a wall outside.



Next the driver took us to part of the Mysore zoo that wasn't closed that day, and we walked through a bird aviary and around a large lake.  It was hot and dusty, and we were both a little sunburnt from our walk around Lal Bagh the day before.

Finally, we insisted on going to the Mysore Palace.  I for one, was a little tired and crank from the heat by that point and wanted to see my top destination.  The story was the same at the palace--no photography inside and no shoes were allowed.  The wait turned out to be worth it.  The palace (rebuilt most recently in 1912) had colorfully tiled floors, doorways of unusual shapes, carved columns, grand ballrooms, ornate murals, skylights, statues of bronze leopards guarding an interior courtyard, a carved door  made out of solid silver, oil paintings of the royal family, and a large number of antiquities.

A temple on the palace grounds

A side view of Mysore Palace

The "front" of the palace, I believe