Capital
of the old Maharaja State, Mysore is a lovely open and airy city, scented by
its major industry - the manufacture of incense sticks. Never again will you
smell sandalwood, attar of roses, frangipani, musk or any of the other
beautiful perfumes, without thinking of your visit to Mysore.The wide roads and boulevards of the city all seem to lead to the City Palace, at night lit by thousands of small light bulbs and for all the world looking like a massive wedding cake. By day it is a museum of the riches and opulence which was old India, and even today, it's interior is quite stunning, with towering gaily coloured and pillared Durbar Halls, refreshingly cool after the heat of the day outside and fabulously decorated walls and ceilings.
See a real Indian bazaar by visiting the Central Market and buying exotic items that would cost a fortune back home. Or, just watch the Indian world go by - the paan makers putting together their own individual concoctions for their regular customers - the flower sellers making heavy floral garlands at a speed that makes the mind spin.
And, as if Mysore itself wasn't enough, a day trip to nearby Somnathpur, where one of the most perfectly preserved Hoysala temples in India still stands at it always did. Constructed from black soapstone in the shape of an eight sided star, to maximize the wall area to be decorated with intricate carvings, in 1268, the Kesava Temple is said to be one of the jewels of south India.
To the East of Mysore is Srirangapatnam, the home of the legendary Tipu Sultan, who gave the British Raj such a lot of trouble in the late 1700's.
The site of many hard battles, it was only after conquering this area that the British completed control of India. Tipu Sultan's elegant summer palace. Darya Daulat Bagh, has been preserved as a museum, it's interior walls decorated with finely painted panels, reminiscent of the silk paintings of Rajasthan. This small palace is surrounded by beautiful, restful gardens. From here we can go to Brindavan Gardens, which are the top of a new Dam, where have been built spectacular gardens with fountains which play under colourful illuminations at night.
Dominating the skyline from all parts of Mysore is Chamundi Hill, surmounted by the Sri Chamundeshwara Temple, dedicated to the Hindu goddess, Chamundi, who defeated the evil demon Mahishasura. It is the name of this demon which gives Mysore its name. About half way up Chamundi Hill is a Nandi (the God Shiva's Holy Black Bull), carved from a solid piece of granite and measuring more than 16 feet in length.
On the way to Mysore, we stay overnight at the old British hill station of Ootacamund. Founded at the beginning of the 19th century as the summer headquarters of British Madras, 'Ooty' lies at a height of almost 7,500 ft. in the Nilgiri Hills. Once a reminder of "home" for the British, with its green leafy streets and lanes and stone built cottages and administration buildings, Ooty has, sadly, seen better days.
From
Mysore we travel on by road to Coimbatore, and spend one night here, before
traveling on to Madurai for a further two nights.One of the oldest cities in southern India, Madurai's skyline is dominated by the fabulous Shri Meenakshi Temple, with its profusion of gopurams (towers) covered in carvings, all painted in gaudy colours, of the Hindu pantheon, animals and flowers. (We can, unfortunately, only view this from the outside as it is out of bounds to non-Hindus).
A city of about one million people and visited by tens of thousands of visitors and pilgrims from all over India and the rest of the world, every day, Madurai is one huge "shopping experience", with, shops and bazaars everywhere, you turn. A visit to Madurai is a true Indian experience, with people, bullock carts and modern traffic all jostling each other and is one of the most popular places to visit in the whole of India.
To enable you to recover from your exertions of the previous few days, we now return you to the relative calm of Kovalam for another 4 nights, before your return flight to UK.
In Mysore, you will stay at the Hotel Metropole. Built by the last Maharaja for his own guests, the Metropole is now a beautiful hotel, set in its own gardens, full of exotic and colourful plants, with long verandas. The Metropole has service and rooms second to none (each room has twin beds, with air conditioning, colour TV, bathroom and separate dressing room vestibule) and we are pleased to be able to offer this hotel to you. Meals are taken either in the former ballroom, or, in the evenings, at the barbeque in the gardens.