(3) Mysore -- Wow! With A Real Palace!

(Diary: Sojourn to India - March 31 - April 30, 2006)

Ugghhh!!! Brrrr.....I am rethinking the virtue of going to see Mysore. Waking up at six in the morning is horrible! But i have to be in Badami House before 7am so i'd better take a shower and have a cup of coffee ( i am semi-catatonic before my first cup!).

I'm really excited about this trip. I've been reading lots of literature about Mysore and its history, it's as if i am suffused with the spirit of the era. The time of sword-bearing princes atop their decorated elephants, of lavish parties with magnificent-looking Maharanis (in fairness, ang gaganda talaga nila! How i wish may mag sabi man lang sa akin na I look like a local. hahaha). Pero its the ostentatious display of wealth by the current Maharaja that I want to see --- take note, almost 100,000 light bulbs will be turned on (every Sunday night at 7pm for an hour) to illuminate the whole palace! (accdg to the guide book)...

On the bus, there were a lot of local tourists. Since the Indian culture is so diverse, even for local tourists it is still a wonderful treat for them to see these sights. Medyo out of place ako coz I am the only foreigner inside the bus. Yung iba, are the usual foreign-based/bred Indians who also wanted to get immersed in the history and culture of their parents.

(at the entrance of the Tipu Sultan museum)

Our first stop is the Tipu Sultan Summer Palace, set amongst the forested area in the outskirts of Mysore. Now turned into a museum, the palace is full of family treasures and memorabilia and a colorful picture display of Tipu Sultan's fight against the British.

(I saw some women washing linens in the canals in the garden, I couldn't resist! I took a picture, they don't seem to mind. See how colorful their wardrobes are!!!)

Entrance to the palace museum is supposed to be $2 for foreigners/5 rupees for locals however there was someone trying to be 'entrepreneurial' at the main gate, he only asked for 10 rupees in exchange for the local ticket he gave me. And so i went and explored the grounds, but when I got to the museum the guard there wouldn't let me in coz im carrying a local ticket and he wants me to go back and buy a foreigner ticket (about 100 rupees). Lumabas yung pagka Pinoy ko, of course I bribed him with a 50! Hehehe.....he even escorted me and acted as my guide..... kahit papaano, I saved 30 rupees if i had I bought a regular ticket.

Next on the itinerary is the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple which is about 1,200 years old in Srirangapatnam, the temple is inside a fort. It is a bit cool inside the walls, maybe from the thousand years of accumulated moss! With sunlight barely penetrating its enclosed walls, the smell of incense wafts through and the prayer chants can be heard within. My new friends (i saw 2 goodlooking guys and introduced myself to them! hahaha ....as in goodlooking in a moviestar bagets way!) ushered me to a cell-like structure farther inside the temple (there are a couple more of these cells inside) wherein Hindu saints are placed (para bang icons of saints sa atin where we also stop and pray and light a candle). There are also some Hindu priests and with Anurag explaining to me the proper way of praying, I also went in line and nag-pose as if to pray. When it was my turn to be blessed by the priest, I got stage fright! Should the flowers be given or placed on the bowl? Is the palm supposed to be open or what???? (as you probably know by now I have a severe case of inferiority complex which manifests itself from impromptu moments like this!!!)

One thing to remember though, wear socks all the time especially if you have plans of going to temples as you will be asked to leave your shoes outside the temple premises. What is so surprising is that, no one actually steals your shoes! Pero, OMG! ang init ng nilalakaran ko! Now I know the saying, "to walk on coals".....hehhehe

Its back on the bus now, my two newfound friends told me our next stop will be a Catholic church so now its my turn to teach them how to pray in a Catholic way. St. Philomena's Church is one of the largest Catholic church in India. But coming from a Catholic country like the Philippines where Basilicas and Cathedrals are 'de rigour' for big and not so big cities, I found the church a bit small. (Pinoys are really extremes in their fanaticism -- churches and shopping malls -- weird comparison di ba!)
We stopped for lunch and by now medyo feeling close na ako with my new friends. I tagged along and they were very nice and welcoming, they even treated me for our lunch! We had some curry (pero in fairness masarap sya or was it the company who made the difference???hahahha) and tandoori chicken (masarap talaga!). The two were bestfriends back in New Delhi although the other one is based in Bangalore (works in a textile company) and the other is working on his MBA at the Mumbai AIM. We had a mini-stop at a nearby 'sari' shop... I even took home a pamphlet on how to wear a sari.....

Full from our heavy lunch, we trekked for a few minutes to Chamundi Hill and visited another temple, the Sri Chamundeswari Temple. I followed the group and went inside the temple. Medyo hindi na ako shy in lining up for a blessing coz i know the routine by now. I noticed a group of 2 ladies (well, they look like one!) and a gent with completely shaven heads and since medyo usyosera naman talaga ako (you can really get away with the most culturally insensitive questions coz you are an 'ignorant tourist'...hehe) i pointed them out to my new friends. The historically/culturally - knowledgeable Anurag replied that there are some people who shave their heads on certain religious occassions and donate their hair to a temple. What the temple will do to those hairs (baka pang-wig??) i did not ask anymore..

Next stop is the 'major attraction' the Maharaja's Palace, the seat of the Maharajas of Mysore (alam nyo ba na if the flag is up and waving doon sa residential area of the Palace it means that the current Maharaja is in residence at the moment). The interiors of the place is amazing; a collection of gold artifacts, paintings and really astounding furnitures. Meron pa ngang golden chair. Not being allowed to bring my camera inside (it has to be deposited at the entrance) is such a letdown but i consoled myself at exclaiming everytime may makita akong overdose! (as in sa gold... lahat kasi gold-plated..)

Can you imagine that they have imported Italian tiles in their ballroom area??? Ang posh talaga ng mga Maharajas na to! To think that this was imported during the 18th - 19th century pa! The whole palace is very huge.... there were a lot of paintings depicting the struggles of the Maharajas, commemorating the victory over the invaders or a wedding procession for one of the princes' weddings.

One thing odd, alam nyo ba na when the Maharaja goes out to address the public, the Maharanis (missus ba!) will stay behind the two pillars unless the Maharaja will call them out.... pero nakakaloka, in front of these pillars are floor-length mirrors.... tumitingin daw doon ang mga mujer habang nag-speech ang Maharaja! (ano yun, mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of us all???hehe).

The trip is winding down, our last stop is the Brindavan Gardens.

It is a beautifully laid out garden, complete with a fountain and a boating area (kaya lang medyo darky ang waters of the Khrisnaraja Sagar - ung river adjoining the park). We waited out till the evening to watch the lighting of the fountains (ang ganda!) with the accompanying Bollywood songs!

We stopped near the open-air ampitheater (ang tagal naman kasi ng 7pm! start of the show) and had some 'chaa', a very sweet milk tea. Di ko kaya ang tamis, parang 80% sugar content yata nun!

It was a mess going back to the bus... we got held up coz I was sitting at the end of the row and everyone scrambled out when the show finished.... when we got to the waiting area, the bus driver was shouting at us already... he was fuming! Cmon, ganun lang generates that type of anger! Ekyusme, naloka talaga ako.... buti na lang kinaray-karay ako ng mga kasama ko kasi gusto ko na talaga patulan!

Anyways, it was a lovely trip... made new friends, had fun and learned quite a lot. But it was a long, tiring trip as we arrived back in Bangalore at around 11.30pm!

I still need a few hours of sleep coz tomorrow I'm heading out to Goa......