Our next stop was at Srirangapatna. To our surprise, there was not much crowd though it was a Puratasi Saturday which is auspicious for Lord Vishnu. We had a good darshan of Lord Sriranga and Goddess Mahalakshmi. We were not able to stop comparing with Lord Ranganathar at Srirangam, Trichy. Our daughter had fun watching monkeys in the temple. There is a bunch of monkeys which target any pilgrim coming out with the archana plate. They do not leave way unless you depart the bananas from the plate. It was fun watching them looting this way.
We took a call to proceed further to Mysore and explore whatever places we could see before the sun sets. My husband wanted to see the palace and I wanted to visit the Chamundeswari Temple for sure. So we decided to see them without fail. Mysore welcomed us with a big flower arch kept for Dussera. It was past 11 by that time. I wanted to visit the temple first as it might be closed by noon. The sign boards guiding the way for site seeing places were found only in important juntcions. We had to stop and look for someone to guide us in all other junctions for the right direction. We reached Chamundi Hills around 12. The temple had heavy rush due to Dussera. The queue in Rs.20 tickets was so long and you could imagine how much it would be for free darshan. I was very upset as it might take hours if we stand in the queue for a darshan.
We took a call to proceed further to Mysore and explore whatever places we could see before the sun sets. My husband wanted to see the palace and I wanted to visit the Chamundeswari Temple for sure. So we decided to see them without fail. Mysore welcomed us with a big flower arch kept for Dussera. It was past 11 by that time. I wanted to visit the temple first as it might be closed by noon. The sign boards guiding the way for site seeing places were found only in important juntcions. We had to stop and look for someone to guide us in all other junctions for the right direction. We reached Chamundi Hills around 12. The temple had heavy rush due to Dussera. The queue in Rs.20 tickets was so long and you could imagine how much it would be for free darshan. I was very upset as it might take hours if we stand in the queue for a darshan.
It started raining and my husband wanted to leave. I was just hoping for someone to help us in having a quick darshan. My husband asked me to stand with the kid and went to check at the counter. I had no hopes of a darshan. He came back with 100 rupees tickets which allow you to go through the main entrance without having to follow the queue. I was so overwhelmed by his courtesy to satisfy my wish and we had a great darshan of Goddess Chamundeswari.
The hill was bearing a festive look and was getting ready for the D-Day on Vijayadasami (2 days from the day we visited). The tenth day of Dussera is celebrated as the day of victory to rejoice about the triumph of Goddess Chamundi over demon Mahishasura. We were happy that we could make it up to this temple during Dussera.
As we drove down the hill it started raining heavily. Our next stop was at the palace. The palace was open to visitors from 2.30 Pm only. It was around 1 Pm when we were there. So we decided to finish our lunch and St. Philomena’s church before hitting the palace again. We went to the church first. We had to remain in the car for about 30 minutes as it was raining heavily. Managing Appu inside the car for 30 minutes was an uphill task.
St. Philomena’s church is a beautiful cathedral and is in the memory of the first bishop of Mysore. The cathedral is the largest Cathedral in South Asia. The stained glass painted windows were adding beauty to the hall. The twin spires of the church stand very majestic and no wonder it is another example for architecture in India. We had fun photo shoot while drizzling.
After having a low profile :o( buffet lunch at Hotel Ramanashree (Next time I make sure to stay away from this hotel) , we proceeded to the Mysore Maharaja’s palace. We were directed from one entrance to the other as there were 6 entrances to the palace but the entrance tickets were available only from one entrance. We could see the Dussera (Mad) rush in the palace alone. Thought of getting out of that place immediately :o)
We rushed through the visitors point inside the palace in 30 minutes and hit the road back to Bangalore. Appu started sleeping and we wanted to cover as much mileage as possible. We reached Rajarajeswari nagar in 2 hours. From there, to our home at Indiranagar it was just the usual Bangalore traffic. We reached home at 8.15 Pm and this is how the trip was....
The hill was bearing a festive look and was getting ready for the D-Day on Vijayadasami (2 days from the day we visited). The tenth day of Dussera is celebrated as the day of victory to rejoice about the triumph of Goddess Chamundi over demon Mahishasura. We were happy that we could make it up to this temple during Dussera.
As we drove down the hill it started raining heavily. Our next stop was at the palace. The palace was open to visitors from 2.30 Pm only. It was around 1 Pm when we were there. So we decided to finish our lunch and St. Philomena’s church before hitting the palace again. We went to the church first. We had to remain in the car for about 30 minutes as it was raining heavily. Managing Appu inside the car for 30 minutes was an uphill task.
St. Philomena’s church is a beautiful cathedral and is in the memory of the first bishop of Mysore. The cathedral is the largest Cathedral in South Asia. The stained glass painted windows were adding beauty to the hall. The twin spires of the church stand very majestic and no wonder it is another example for architecture in India. We had fun photo shoot while drizzling.
After having a low profile :o( buffet lunch at Hotel Ramanashree (Next time I make sure to stay away from this hotel) , we proceeded to the Mysore Maharaja’s palace. We were directed from one entrance to the other as there were 6 entrances to the palace but the entrance tickets were available only from one entrance. We could see the Dussera (Mad) rush in the palace alone. Thought of getting out of that place immediately :o)
We rushed through the visitors point inside the palace in 30 minutes and hit the road back to Bangalore. Appu started sleeping and we wanted to cover as much mileage as possible. We reached Rajarajeswari nagar in 2 hours. From there, to our home at Indiranagar it was just the usual Bangalore traffic. We reached home at 8.15 Pm and this is how the trip was....
