We arrived in Mysore on the 25 in the late evening. On the 26th we
went to a wax museum, experienced a Hindu pilgrimage up the 1180 steps of
Chamundi Hill to be greeted by a golden temple. It is said that the Goddess
Chamundeswari killed the demon Mahishasura in a fierce battle that lasted
several days. Next stop was the Saint Philomena’s Roman Catholic Church, the
third largest in India. We also visited a palace that was converted into a
hotel and the Brindavan Gardens which are along the river Kaveri; we even took
a boat ride. The day ended at a jungle themed restaurant in the hotel. The next
day we went to the Mysore Palace. It is a beautiful palace that was rebuilt in the early 1900's due to a fire that destroyed everything except the temple. It was rebuilt to ensure it would never burn again by integrating cast iron columns and stone floors and staircases instead of the usual wood. Elaborate glass skylights are present throughout the entire palace with mandalas and peacock motifs. Detailed Hindu Myths are painted onto the ceilings, contrasted by the intricate designs of the floors. The two headed eagle, elephants and lions are recurring images in doors, railings and on columns. The entire time I walked through I tried to imagine this palace as a home, the sheer size and extravagance of it made it extremely difficult. As we exited and retrieved our shoes we saw the full frontal view, took some pictures and made our way to the Mysore Zoo. We saw giraffes, monkeys, chimps, gorillas, elephants, lions, tigers and bears oh my!
We left in the evening for an overnight bus ride to Goa.
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