Mysore - City of Palaces

When my in-laws came, we planned to go for a day's trip to Mysore. After estimating time for travel and food, we finalized 3 places - Srirangapatna, Mysore Palace and KRS.
Thus planned, we started at around 8 AM on March 19th, 2011. At hotel Kamat Lokaruchi, Ramanagara around 9 30, we stopped for breakfast and proceeded towards Srirangapatna and reached around 11 AM. Asking the route, we went to Sri Ranganathaswamy temple. There was an incident involving the priest regarding a photo taken inside the temple where photography was prohibited. Click here to read that.

Anyway, we came outside and went to Tippu's summer palace. Sri Ranganathaswamy temple is to the right if traveling from Bangalore and Tippu's summer palace, also called Dariya Daulat, is at the right side. The signboards are pretty well. The architecture of Dariya Daulat is beautiful. Photography is prohibited there, so couldn't capture in my camera. It is now converted to museum with many of Tippu's household stuffs, clothes, various portraits and photographs of his children, battle ground, fort and things like that.

 

We went to Gumbaz afterwards. Gumbaz is burial ground of Tippu's father, Hyder Ali. Now, one can find tombs of Tippu, his father, mother, wife and children there.

Our last place of visit near Srirangapatna was Sangama, which is the confluence of two branches of Cauvery. Of them, one is called Lokapavani and it is considered to be holy to take a dip and bath there. Many people give tribute to their demised parents at Sangama. However, we didn't like this place since somebody was worshiping and just beside that some fishermen were cutting fish into pieces!


We started from Srirangapatna and went to Mysore. We had lunch in a hotel near Palace and went inside Palace. Wow! I had never been to Mysore Palace, though had seen bits and pieces in media, and I liked it very much. A tour inside Palace along with nearby museum (then Palace before current Palace was constructed in early 20th century) took almost 2 hours. The architecture of the building (referred as Indo-Saracenic), a stoned structure, numerous photos and description beneath them, which tell us the story in brief, the gifts the wodeyar dynasty received, their household items - overall, it was fantastic.

We strolled for sometime, spending time in taking snaps, outside the palace and we left for KRS. Parking arrangement at KRS is good. I guess it is constructed recently. It was around 6 PM when we reached there. We took a walk and climbed up the dam to see the backwater and came back. It was 7 pm then and the lights were turned on, feasting our eyes. We started taking quick steps towards musical fountain, taking snaps all along and of-course exclaiming what we see. It took us almost 20-25 minutes to reach and watch musical fountain. We watched for some 15 minutes and we started back since we had to come all the way to Bangalore. KRS provided us an amazing sight and we had a great time enjoying there.

We reached Bangalore-Mysore road at Srirangapatna from KRS and from then, it was one stop journey at Kamat again for dinner before we reach home in Bangalore at 11.

ಮಣ್ಣಾಗಿ ಬಂದ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ಕಾಸು!

ಮೊನ್ನೆ, ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲೊಂದು ಅತ್ಯಾಶ್ಚರ್ಯವಾದ ಹಾಗೂ ಸಂತೋಷಕರವಾದ ಘಟನೆ ನಡೆಯಿತು.

ನಮ್ಮ ದೊಡ್ಡಪ್ಪನ ಮನೆಯ ದನ, ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ ಮೇಯಲು ಬಿಟ್ಟ ತಕ್ಷಣ ನಮ್ಮನೆಗೆ ಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ನಮ್ಮಮ್ಮ ಹಿಂದಿನ ದಿನ ಉಳಿದಿರುವುದೆಲ್ಲವನ್ನು ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಬಳಿಕವಷ್ಟೇ ಅದರ ಮುಂದಿನ ತಿರುಗಾಟ. ಬಿಟ್ಟೊಡನೆ ನಮ್ಮನೆಗೆ ಬರದೆ ಅದು ಹೋಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ, ಒಂದಿನ ಬಂದಿಲ್ಲ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ನಮ್ಮಮ್ಮ "ಯಾಕೆ ಇಂದು ದನ ಬಂದಿಲ್ಲ, ಯಾಕೆ ಇವತ್ತು ಮೇಯಲು ಬಿಟ್ಟಿಲ್ಲ" ಎಂದು ನಮ್ಮ ಅಣ್ಣನಲ್ಲಿ (ದೊಡ್ಡಪ್ಪನ ಮಗ) ವಿಚಾರಿಸುತ್ತಾಳೆ.

ಸುಮಾರು ೫-೬ ವರ್ಷದ ಹಿಂದೆ ನಮ್ಮಮ್ಮನೆ ಕತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ಕಾಸು (ಬಂಗಾರದ pendant) ಕಳೆದು ಹೋಯಿತು. ಕಡೆಯ ಬಾರಿ ಯಾವಾಗ ನೋಡಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದು ಎಂದು ನೆನಪು ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡಾಗ ದನಕ್ಕೆ ತಿನ್ನಲು ಕೊಡಲು ಹೋಗಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಇತ್ತು ಎಂದಾಯಿತು. ಆ ಜಾಗದಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲ ಹುಡುಕಿದೆವು. ಎಲ್ಲೂ ಸಿಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ದನವೇ ತಿಂದಿರುವುದು ನಿಶ್ಚಿತ ಎಂದಾಯಿತು. ದೊಡ್ಡಪ್ಪನ ಮಗನಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಿದಳು ಅಮ್ಮ. ಅವನು ಅದನ್ನು ೩-೪ ದಿನ ಮೇಯಲು ಬಿಡದೆ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲೇ ಕಟ್ಟಿ ಹಾಕಿ, ಅದು ಸಗಣಿ ಹಾಕಿದಾಗಲೆಲ್ಲ ಕಣ್ಣು ಹಾಯಿಸಿದರು. ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ಕಾಸು ಸಿಗಲಿಲ್ಲ!

ಕಾಲ ಕ್ರಮೇಣ ಘಟನೆ ನೆನಪಿನಿಂದ ಮಾಸಿತು. ಈಗ್ಗೆ, ಸುಮಾರು ೩ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಮುಪ್ಪಾದ ಆ ದನ ಸತ್ತು ಹೋಯಿತು. ಸುಮಾರು ೨೨ ವಯಸ್ಸಾದ ಆ ದನ ನಮ್ಮ ದೊಡ್ಡಪ್ಪನ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲೇ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ್ದು. ಮನೆಯ ಮುಂದುಗಡೆ ಹಿತ್ತಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅದರ ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರ ನೆರವೇರಿತು. (ಮಣ್ಣಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಗಿದರು). ಮೊನ್ನೆ, ೨-೩ ದಿನಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ದೊಡ್ಡಪ್ಪನ ಮನೆಯವರು ದನ ಹುಗಿದ ಜಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಗಿಡ ನೆಡಲು ನೆಲ ಅಗೆಸಿದರು. ಅಗೆದವನು ಮಣ್ಣನ್ನು ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಪಕ್ಕಕ್ಕೆ ರಸ್ತೆ ಬದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಕಿದ. ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಶಾಲೆಗೆ ಹೋಗುವ ಹುಡುಗಿಯೊಬ್ಬಳು ದೊಡ್ಡಮ್ಮನನ್ನು ಕರೆದು "ನೋಡಿ ಅಮ್ಮಾವ್ರೇ, ಇಲ್ಲೇನೋ ಬಂಗಾರದ್ದು ಬಿದ್ದೈತೆ" ಎಂದು ಆ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ಕಾಸನ್ನು ಕೊಡುವುದೇ! ಅದನ್ನು ತೊಳೆದು ತಂದು ದೊಡ್ಡಮ್ಮ ಅಮ್ಮನಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ತಂದು ತೋರಿಸಿದಾಗ, ಅದು ಅಮ್ಮನದೇ ಎಂದು ದೃಢಪಟ್ಟಿತು. ನಮ್ಮ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಸೊಂತೋಷಕ್ಕೆ ಪಾರವೇ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ. :-)

ದನದ ದೇಹದ ಯಾವ ಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ಕಾಸಿತ್ತು ಎಂಬುದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಾನಿನ್ನೂ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸಂಶೋಧನೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಕಿದೆ.

ಕುಮಾರವ್ಯಾಸ ಭಾರತ - ಆದಿಪರ್ವ

ಶ್ರೀ ಎಲ್ ಗುಂಡಪ್ಪನವರು ಗದ್ಯಾನುವಾದಿಸಿದ ಕರ್ಣಾಟಕ ಭಾರತ ಕಥಾಮಂಜರಿಯ ಆದಿಪರ್ವವನ್ನು ಈಗಷ್ಟೇ ಓದಿ ಮುಗಿಸಿದೆ. ಕ್ರುಷ್ಣರ್ಜುನರು ಖಾಂಡವ ವನವನ್ನು ದಹಿಸಲು ಸಹಕರಿಸಿದ್ದು ಆಯಿತು. ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಕೆಲವು ಸಂದೇಹಗಳು ಕಾಡುತ್ತಿವೆ. ಭೀಷ್ಮನ ಪ್ರತಿಜ್ಞೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತುಂಬಾ ಕಡಿಮೆ ವಿವರವಿದೆ. ಅಂಬೆ ಮತ್ತು ಸಾಲ್ವರ ಪ್ರೇಮದ ಮತ್ತು ಭೀಷ್ಮ ಸಾಲ್ವರ ಯುದ್ಧಗಳ ಉಲ್ಲೇಖವೇ ಇಲ್ಲ! ದ್ರೌಪದಿಯ ಸ್ವಯಂವರದವರೆಗೂ ಬಲರಾಮಕೃಷ್ಣರ ಹಾಗೂ ಪಾಂಡವರ ಭೇಟಿಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಇಲ್ಲ. ನನ್ನ ಅರಿವಿನ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಅರ್ಜುನನ ತೀರ್ಥಯಾತ್ರೆಯ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಶರಸೇತು ಬಂಧದ ಪ್ರಸಂಗ ಬರುವುದು. (ಅರ್ಜುನ ಮತ್ತು ಅಂಜನೆಯರ ಯುದ್ಧ.) ಇದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯೂ ಪ್ರಸ್ಥಾಪವಾಗಿಲ್ಲ. ಇದು ಮೂಲ ಕುಮಾರವ್ಯಾಸ ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿಲ್ಲವೋ ಅಥವಾ ಗದ್ಯಾನುವಾದದಲ್ಲಿಲ್ಲವೋ ನನಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಯಾರಾದರೂ ಈ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ವಿವರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೋ ಎಂದು ಕಾಡು ನೋಡಬೇಕಿದೆ.

Innovative Film City

We had bought a Godrej refrigerator in last May from Girias, Majestic. That time, there was some discount and they gave two package passes, each worth 699/-, for 2 persons, meaning, 4 people could use. When my parents came from native, we decided to use it, on September 25th, last year.

It was a Saturday and we reached Innovative film city after traveling 35km on crowded Mysore road by 11 30. After exchanging passes with tickets, we visited Innovative Talkies. Innovative talkies shows some of the old movies for 10 mins. The talkies is made to look like very old with wooden benches and iron chairs. We watched some shots from "Sholay" before moving on to Wannado City.
Wannado City is a role-playing theme park, a designed city where a child can play a role of a firefighter, actor, TV reporter, chef, judge, pilot doctor ... One can even become a thief and go behind the bars!
We next moved to Mirror Maze. This was very good. All the rooms had only 3 sides with 2 walls angled at 60 degrees to the adjacent ones. One actually have to find out the way and move to next room. All the fun was in finding out the way to the next room.
Our next point was Dinosaur world. There are artificial dinosaurs. They move, they roar! This was worth visiting. Different species of dinosaurs along with sub groups are present there.

Our next stop was Fossil museum. Fossil museum gives an insight to the fossils of dinosaurs with information of various dinosaur fossils displayed. More the time, more the information can be gathered here!

Ripley's Believe It or Not museum was our next visit. Robert Ripley discovered a lot of unusual, odd and unbelievable stories while exploring in over 200 countries. The museum houses a part of these stories with bizarre exhibits on display. Here also more time is needed to read out all those stories.

We continued further to Louis Tussaud's Wax museum. This has statues of well known personalities around the world. The statues were realistic.

Time was running out and we proceeded to play for sometime amid hot sunlight. We played Golf though we didn't enjoy much. Not having extra clothes prevented us from jumping into Aqua Kingdom, which is nothing but an artificial beach, a good one, particularly in summer.
Most enjoyed game was Roller Coaster. This was fantastic. All the fun can only be experienced but can neither be explained nor be written.
Finally we visited miniature city before departing. It's like a portrait of a real city.

Overall, it was a good day trip.