BY PRAGYANSHARMA POLAVARAPU
(1)
DIARY TEXT 2-3-2004
Because we had to follow a government
approved tour program , we could not take rest even for a day at Bengaluru even
though we visited our daughter after an
year . We all decided that on our return
from Mysore and Ooty we would stop for a day or two at Bangalore.
So,on
with our exciting trip.It was really
very painful but we had to hurry within
a few hours as per our fixed tour program
. We had to start for Mysore
by 11am bus. My younger daughter, ( a college
student pursuing computer science) , was the happiest of us. She was very happy that her sister was coming with us to Mysore and Ooty. Our
son-in-law had to be at his office by 10am
to attend a important staff meeting . He started for his office and wished us a happy journey. My elder daughter was very happy to travel with us and be with
us for three days.
We started
by auto to the big and bustling Bengaluru bus stand and boarded an
express bus for Mysuru. I made clear to
all that we had absolutely no plan to
stay at Ooty overnight because of
extreme cold there . We would complete
our trip in 8 to 10 hours( including the time for up and
down journeys). We have to satisfy ourselves with seeing the picturesque villages
on the hill sides, negotiating the zig-zag bends and steep road sections and watch the extremely beautiful hill scenery
and the endless greenery and see the change in weather in the top mountainous
regions . We would just stop for two hours in Ooty town .We had to adjust our
program as per our very limited time.
We would
stay in a nice comfortable hotel in Mysore .
We would start at 7am at Mysuru and
return back by 6pm strictly before nightfall.
I especially wanted to show the picturesque scenery of Ooty to
my wife and daughters .I very much
wanted that they should see the vast greenery and forest cover and the
many villages appearing on the slanting
hill sides.
(2)
So we are
now on first leg of our journey—reaching our base camp the beautiful city of Mysuru
which is 140 kilometers
south of Bengaluru. The bus took us
at good
speed and we reached Mysuru by 4pm.
It was the capital of erstwhile Mysuru
kingdom (present state of Karnataka) and is a cool beautiful clean city of about one million people . It is at a
high altitude with pleasant crispy air and is famous for its majestic palaces and wide roads decorated with imposing
life size marble statues of the Maharajas. The kings of the last dynasty ( the Wadiyars
were very forward looking and converted Mysore into
a modern city just like a European city with modern infrastructure and modern
educational and technical institutions . The kings of Wadiyar dynasty ruled for
about 500 years (up to merger into Republic of India) except for a reign of
short period of 48 years in second half of 18th century by the Nawabs
Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan.
Mysuru was the celebrated capital of the state
for 500 years until Bengaluru became capital from the period of Indian independence . My wife and
second daughter did not visit these areas until now but my elder
daughter had been staying in Bengaluru for about two years .Every village and town on
the way were full of coconut trees and some had big coconut plantations. It was
everywhere a world of countless coconut trees . The
greenery everywhere was pleasing to the eye.
At the
busy Mysore bus stand where we reached
(at about 4pm) several cabmen and travel
agents came to us to ask about our travel program . I went to a nearby office
of a a senior agent of Karnataka government travel beaureu. He had
a big and neat office with phones and office assistants and talked fluently in English showing me several tourist maps .I
fixed with his help a hotel for Rs 600/- per day with room service, phone,TV .
I discussed
with the agent a trip to Ooty next morning starting at least by
7am or 7-30 AM. It was a long journey
requiring four and half hours for one way journey. We have to be back in our
hotel by at least 6 pm. I told him that we had no plan of staying at Ooty.
He agreed to our program and we fixed our travel in the 25 seater “Swaraj Mazda” minibus of the agent.
I paid the fares in advance.
(3)
The time
was only around 4-15 pm in the afternoon. We had a plan to see the main Grand Palace of the Maharaja. The
travel agent arranged for dropping us at our hotel in one of his taxi cars.The
hotel room was a big neat room with four beds and lift facility. We immediately refreshed and ordered nice wada/upma and coffee into our room. In
minutes we got down and started for the Grand Palace of the Maharaja which was just 2 kilometers away . We reached
there by auto in ten minutes. We had also on our mind a visit to the most
holy Chamundeswari temple on the Chamundeswari
hill at 6pm that day itself . I told our people that we should finish our visit
to the palace well before 6pm . The
temple on the high hills was a most majestic
temple of mother goddess Parvathi. I
visited the temple three or four times during my earlier trips to Mysore for departmental training.
At the
palace cameras were not allowed and so we deposited our camera in the prescribed section of the palace office . We were also to
go barefoot . The palace complex was dazzling and majestic and of gigantic
proportions.No other words to describe it. The gardens in front were vast with
very big lawns and flower beds . But we
had no time to wonder at the beauty of the vast gardens. We straight
away entered the palace halls and first visited
the outer halls. There were high
cuboidal glass cases
containing royal belongings like guns, royal
coats etc and were under alert gaze of
armed guards . We saw king’s thrones, costly furniture items all in high
security rooms sealed in huge cubical cases of thick glass. We could only see
the royal items through through the transparent
glass .
The inner walls of the imposing halls were decorated with huge paintings of
dimensions like 10 feet x 10 feet. The
imposing paintings showed images of previous
kings in old world British empire days .
There were huge wall size paintings showing European soldiers on horse back with long guns and Indian soldiers in turbans
and long coats carrying long dazzling swords and spears.
In one
hall the pillars, made of solid iron and of round cross section were lean towards the top but were very strong and artistically made. They were
painted in bright vertical color bands of light green, blue and gold . The solid iron pillars were decorated with many colorful designs of
flowers and creepers.
The ceilings were fitted with costly thick wood panels in which wonderful
flower and creeper designs were cut . The
artistic wood panels on ceiling were absolutely wonderful and the bright polished
varnished designs shone in the electric
lights . There were sculptures of gods and goddesses in wood panels.The halls with the coloful lean iron pillars ,
artistically carved wooden ceilings and the
heavy furniture items created a wonderful feeling in people
who never saw such palaces.
Soon we
entered the inner halls which were many times more dazzling. Here the colorfully painted pillars
were very fat and had a circular cross section of about two
or three feet. The pillars were fat in the middle and lean towards top. They were painted with color designs in wide lengthwise colored bands in thick blue, green, pink ,gold colors etc . The majestic high doors were made of costly heavy wood and were full
of carvings of beautiful artistic designs . Here
too the ceilings were fitted with heavy carved
wood panels with intricate designs.
In
cubical glass cases of the size of small
rooms there were rare items of the Maharaja’s furniture---old costly chairs covered
in silver sheets with artistic designs ,
ivory inlaid costly wooden tables with
fat curved legs, costly bedsteads with foam beds, artistically made tea tables
etc. We saw one throne studded with gems
and another throne covered in gold sheet
with multi colored metal peacock design.
All were under the gaze of heavily armed guards.
There
were royal weapons of war—swords, helmets,
heavy boots, big long guns, heavy spears
etc. There were costly silver dishes and silver plates and several gold tea cups etc used by the kings and their
families . There were several other presentation
items given to the king by other kings and nawabs and European monarchs. All the
items were secured in glass cabinets .It was all like a fairy land.
We hurried and entered the dazzling Durbar Hall with fat pillars painted in wide coloured vertical
bands. There were exquisitely beautiful
flower designs. The ceiling too had very attractive designs cut in huge sized wooden panels. huge chandeliers hung down. It was a wonder world.
(4)
We then
walked to the wide and long balcony area where the king and queen would sit on
golden thrones on festive occasions and would exchange greetings with the hundreds of people waiting down below on the
lawns of the palace.The royal people ( princes and royal relations and
nobles),ministers and army generals would be seated in the heavy chairs
arranged in rows on the long staircase-like gallery in the balcony. Royal women in purdah
from privileged royal families viewed from the small decorated royal cabins.
There were huge statues of two ferocious
lions at each end of the gateway of the
vast ground below where people would gather to see the royal people sitting in the high balcony. The Durbar Hall had a coloured cut glass ceiling with many attractive designs. It was all like a fairy
land and so unbelievable .
We came
down and entered the equally wonderful museum of royal belongings in other highly protected inner halls of the
palace. The area appeared to lack good lighting. The exhibits kept in those
halls also were very interesting. They were actual belongings of members of the old royal families who were
kings, queens, princes etc , perhaps 100 or 200 years back. There were
gold plates, silvrer cups ,silver tea
pots ,ornamental glassware and costly porcelain
ware .
The old
furniture items like chairs, tables
etc used by the royals and their children were carefully and neatly arranged. The dresses , ornamental royal turbans
with precious stones , the boots and costly footware used by
the royals( when they were alive and young a 100 or 150 years ago) were
carefully secured.
(5)
The Pooja Mantap where god’s holy metal
idols are kept, Pooja Peethams (decorated
with silver and gold flowers and precious stones and inlaid ivory designs) were all secured carefully in glass cases.
There were framed photographs of Rajas and Ranis
in old fashioned traditional Hindu dresses . There were photographs of royals and their royal relations in western suites. There were the
watches and wall clocks ,swords, guns, gramophones, radios, spectacles, costly
pens etc used by the royals . All were most carefully secured in glass cases in
high security halls closely guarded by armed gaurds.
We came
out of the palace at about 5-30 pm . We got back our electronic camera from the
locker room and took lots of photographs
in the gardens of the palace. But the sentries would not permit us to stop for long time anywhere near to the palace . We visited also two magnificient temples within the palace compound. Seeing and
praying in the temples to the beautiful gods gave us immense pleasure and peace
of mind .
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