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Part 2 of 5South India, 2019

A day exploring Mysuru

A hired car, four colleagues and one very full day, from Tipu Sultan's Srirangapatna and Chamundi Hill to a wax museum, St Philomena's Cathedral, Mysore Palace and Brindavan Gardens, followed by a wedding reception in Bengaluru.

By Thawaio2 min read11–12 March 2019 · Mysuru and Bengaluru

Mysore Palace seen across its lawns, a long cream and grey facade with arcades, towers and red domes under a clear blue sky.
Mysore Palace from its gardens.

On 11 March, four of us made a day trip from Bengaluru to Mysuru. We hired a car with a driver, which let us fit a lot into a single day and still return to Bengaluru afterwards. There was no overnight stay.

Looking at the photographs now, it was one of the busiest days of the whole trip.

Srirangapatna

Going by the photographs, our first stop was Srirangapatna, on the way to Mysuru.

Here we visited two places linked to Tipu Sultan. One was Daria Daulat Bagh, his summer palace. The other was the Gumbaz, the tomb of Tipu Sultan and his parents.

None of my photographs from that morning show either of them. The ones I have from Srirangapatna are of a mosque with two tall minarets and a temple gateway tower, taken a few minutes apart.

A long cream building with two tall, slender minarets against a blue sky with white clouds.
A mosque with twin minarets in Srirangapatna.
A tall cream temple gateway tower decorated with tiers of carved figures, with visitors walking towards it across a wide forecourt.
A temple gateway tower in Srirangapatna.

Chamundi Hill

From there we drove into Mysuru, along avenues shaded by big old trees. A sign pointed the way to Chamundi Hill.

A green road sign in Kannada and English under a canopy of trees, pointing to the zoo, Karanji Lake, Chamundi Hill and B.R. Hills.
Signs for Chamundi Hill in Mysuru.

We went up the hill to the Chamundeshwari Temple. One of my colleagues went inside, while I stayed outside the temple.

A tall temple tower covered in carved figures, rising above a temple wall with a corrugated awning and striped market umbrellas below.
The temple tower on Chamundi Hill.
A wide view from a height over a flat plain of trees and buildings, stretching to a hazy horizon.
Looking out over Mysuru from the hill.

Melody World Wax Museum

Next was the Melody World Wax Museum, and we went inside.

The museum is full of life-size wax figures arranged in scenes, many of them playing musical instruments.

A wax tableau of a jazz band in suits and shirts, with a saxophone, cellos, a guitar, a double bass and a drum kit.
A jazz band in wax.
Wax figures of bhangra dancers and musicians in bright turbans and colourful costumes, with a dhol drum and tabla.
Bhangra dancers and musicians.

We also stopped for lunch.

A restaurant table with biryani, curries, a plate of fried chicken, rice, naan and a bowl of raita.
Lunch in Mysuru.

St Philomena’s Cathedral

In the afternoon, we visited St Philomena’s Cathedral. It is a tall, grey church with twin spires and a white statue beside the entrance.

The grey twin-spired facade of St Philomena’s Cathedral, with a white statue on the left and a red door below.
St Philomena's Cathedral.
A pointed stone arch above a red door, with coloured glass in the window over it.
A doorway with coloured glass.

Mysore Palace

Then we went to Mysore Palace. We went inside and explored the interiors.

A cream ornamental gateway with a large arch and small domes, at the end of a long avenue lined with palms and lamp posts.
One of the palace gateways.
Formal rose beds in the palace grounds, with a gateway in the distance and a temple tower on the right.
Gardens and a temple tower in the palace grounds.

The inside was full of detail. There were cast-iron spiral staircases, halls with slender painted pillars and coloured glass ceilings, long arched corridors, carved doors and enormous paintings of royal processions.

An ornate cast-iron spiral staircase in a hall with carved balconies.
A spiral staircase.
A many-sided hall with tall, slender painted pillars, arches and a decorated ceiling.
A hall of painted pillars.
A long painting of a royal procession with soldiers on horseback, set in a decorated archway.
One of the procession paintings.
A painted ceiling with a round decorated medallion and a hanging chandelier.
A painted ceiling.
A heavy wooden door covered in carved panels.
A carved door.
A view through scalloped arches from an upper hall, out across the palace forecourt to a temple tower and distant hills.
Looking out across the forecourt.
A hall of pink and turquoise columns with richly painted arches, stretching into the distance across a shining floor.
Columns and arches in one of the halls.

There were sculptures and weapons as well as all the decoration.

Two large bronze tigers crouching on stone plinths in a courtyard.
Bronze tigers in a courtyard.
A row of old field guns on spoked wheels, lined up beneath yellow columns.
Old field guns.

Brindavan Gardens

Our last stop was Brindavan Gardens, near the KRS Dam. We mainly walked around the gardens.

A long, straight water channel with fountains arcing over flower beds, leading towards the dam.
The central water channel.
A view down over terraced lawns, hedges and cypresses, with the dam wall in the distance.
The gardens below the dam.

By the time we reached the dam itself, the evening light was starting to fade.

The long stone face of the dam, with water flowing from its sluices into a calm reservoir.
The KRS Dam.

Then it was back in the car and the long drive back to Bengaluru.

The reception

On 12 March, I went to the colleague’s wedding reception in Bengaluru. It was a straightforward evening of food and conversation with colleagues, and then we went back.

For me, it was also the end of the group part of the trip. Early the next morning, I was setting off alone for Ooty.