Mysore Chronicles

Mysore big Clock tower

2007-08-10T00:29:00.000-07:00

The big clock tower known as the "Doda Gadyara" is much bigger than the small clock tower. It is situated in front of the Rangacharlu Memorial hall.

The clock tower is surrounded by a enclosure and is a circle for the vehicular traffic.Unlike the smaller clock tower the dodgadayara has Kannada numerals in place of the roman numerals shown in the chika gadyara.

The red color for the bottom and stony color for the rest gives the clock a vintage look befitting a clock tower.

RIMSE-Ramakrishna Institute of Moral and Spiritual Education

2007-08-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Ramakrishna Institute of Moral and Spiritual Education(RIMSE) is run by Ramakrishna ashram, Mysore. It was established in the year 1974.

It functions mainly as a B Ed degree college. The picture here shows the main shrine where prayers take place regularly.

RIMSE also has a cellar where special sessions of meditation and prayer are conducted. The significance of the prayer halls is that, not just one religion but all religions are represented.

The ideal of equality and brotherhood among religions is propagated by RIMSE. In this regard
retreats for diverse groups of people are conducted.

Character development camps are held for tenth and plus two students as well.For a more details visit the site of RIMSE.

Rangacharlu memorial hall

2007-08-07T02:23:00.000-07:00

The town hall was constructed in 1884 in memory of late Chettipantam Veeravalli Rangacharlu, who served as the first dewan of mysore state.

The city improvement trust board and the city municipal offices were earlier housed in the rangacharlu hall. The architecture of the building has two distinct features, the pediment with an intricately carved figurine of goddess laxmi with elephants on both sides and the four pairs of Corinthian columns.

The Rangacharlu memorial hall is now the town hall of mysore and is used for various cultural activities.

Mysore small clock tower

2007-08-06T18:11:00.000-07:00

The small clock tower known as the "chik gadyara" meaning small clock was constructed during the rule of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV.

The clock tower was constructed in the honour of Lord Dufferin, the British Viceroy of India. Lord Dufferin was the viceroy of India from 1884 to 1888. The Indian National Congress was founded during his term in 1885.

Being one of the best diplomats of his times, he was able to appease both the conservative anglo-indians and the nationalists during his term as the Viceroy.

The clock tower is still operational and displays the correct time. Located in front of the entrance to Devraja market, it is situated in Sivrampet.

The clock tower was also renovated when the Devraja market was renovated following collapse of certain sections of the market.

Twisted tree at crawford hall

2007-08-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

The university of mysore crawford hall where the degrees are awarded. It is the convocation hall.

Lord Saraswati presides over the hall at the top. Playing on the veena.

The twisted tree in the grounds can be seen below. It is more of a bent tree than a twisted tree. It reminds one of the womping willow from the harry Potter book series.

For those of you who are unaware of the Whomping Willow, its a tree that has been magically charmed to prevent people from entering the hole at the base of the tree.

The tree hole is the entrance to the shrieking shack. The tree can attack anybody trying to enter the hole by swinging its branches.

Although this tree does not seem to have either a hole nor does it attack anybody as such. But it is the closest thing that could be found to resemble the womping willow.

Tippu Sultan airport?

2007-08-04T01:58:00.000-07:00

The new international airport which is under construction at Devanahalli is a hot topic of debate. Various appeals are being made to name the new airport after the tiger of Mysore, tippu sultan. The main reasons being that Devanahalli is the place where Tippu sultan was born. The area where the new airport is coming up was supposedly the property of Tippu Sultan.

As mysore becomes mysuru, the name becomes more important. The express train between Mysore and Bnaglore has been named after Tippu Sultan and is very popular as the tippu express. A letter campaign has been started to put forward the issue.

It is yet to be seen how the government responds to the request of naming the Mysore airport after Tippu Sultan. The other obvious alternatives are to name it after the Mysore maharjas, the wodyars or the great engineer Vishveshwaria. The Mysuru airport may be operational in the months or years to come. So we have ample amount of time to decide upon a name.

Brindavan Gardens-the charm still persists

2007-07-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

One of the prime attraction of mysore or mysooru is Brindavan Gardens or simply KRS. The distinction being Brindavan gardens uses the water from the KRS reservoir to supply water to the various fountains.

Although it is ok to visit it in the morning, to watch the musical fountain in action, one has to go during the evening. This picture shows one of the smaller fountains at Brindavan gardens.

Brindavan gardens can be reached by road. Now they have closed the older opening that began at the Dam ad made a huge parking lot to cater to the huge hoards of people that are visiting KRS. Even after so many years, still the charm of Brindavan gardens seems to persist.

Kukaralli lake-garbage bib overflow

2007-07-24T18:58:00.001-07:00

The garbage bin is overflowing on the lake bank. The garbage has collected outside the garbage bin.

It would be better if the garbage clearance rate is increased. The construction of the bin the overhead roofing, seems rather peculiar and may also be the reason for the accumulation of garbage outside the garbage bin.

The Kuralli lake which is home to many species of birds needs to be preserved and maintained clean. It is these few open spaces in the city that will provide clean air for generations to come.

Temple reassembled near KRS Dam

2007-07-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

The temple that had been submerged in the Krishna Raja Sagara Reservoir has been reassembled on the shore. The parts of the temple were numbered and photographed before being removed part by part. Using heavy machinery these parts were moved to the shore when the reservoir was empty.

The stone was cleaned and polished before assembling it into the temple. However, many new parts had to be added to replace the won out pieces. It was like putting back the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle.

The temple is now nearly complete. The temple can be reached by passing through the village. The temple has been reconstructed on a peninsula. The god or goddess is yet to be placed within the temple.

Kaveri in full flow at KRS

2007-07-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

The river caveri is flowing at full blow. The dam has filled up and the water has been let out. The increasing accumulation of the silt in the dam has decreased its capacity. The sand brought to the dam by the river is trapped by the dam and fills up the dam.
The dam is known as KRS dam.Krishna Raja Sagar dam was built by Vishwevshvarai when he was the dewan of mysore. The dam has stood the rigors of time till now.

Gopalaswamy betta at noon

2007-07-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

We talked about Goplaswamy betta earlier. See the immense amount of fog covering the mountain at noon. The visibility does not get any better than that.
The temple has a krishna playing on the flute. The temple which is supposed to be 700 years old was built during the rule of the chola dynasty. The region has 25 tirtas known as chakra titrta. And the specialty of the place is that it does not have any crows. The locals have some religious reasoning for the same. I wonder if it has anything to do with the furious winds and fog.

And by the way the temple does not open until 11 am. Make sure you take a vehicle that can climb the steep roads. The entrance to the road is controlled as the area is preserved under the project tiger initiative. But anybody can visit the temple as long as they don't wander of into the forest.

Traditional art at jagan mohana palace

2007-07-12T02:17:00.001-07:00

This piece of art can be seen outside the Jagan Mohana palace in mysore. The new mysoru that is coming has a lot of art to offer to the world.

The statue of goddess Saraswati playing the Veena is depicted in this statue. The goddess is the goddess of education and learning.

The Lansdowne market

2007-07-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

The Lansdowne market is a landmark structure. It is one of the reasons for the popularity of the mysore market. It was under some controversy, with different people being blamed for the situation. The building which is situated exactly opposite to the city bus stand houses a large number of shops.

The pathetic situation of the side wall with movie posters all over it is indeed a disgrace. Forget about the posters, grass is growing on the first floor balcony, as can be seen in this picture. It is high time we had a regular inspection and maintenance schedule for all these buildings.

The "lansdowne" building has become "Lands down" by repeated colloquial use. It is similar to the five light circle becoming pilot circle!

Mysore City corporation-MCC

2007-07-05T18:50:00.001-07:00

The Mysore city corporation reflects the architecture of the palace. The Mysore city corporation is situated opposite to the Amba vilas palace beside the Banumai High school.
This is the place you goto if you need a trade license, birth certificate,death certificate, house tax, approval of house plan before construction etc.. The assembly of the members of the corporation also takes place at the mysore city corporation.

For paying the money at the corporation you have to pay the money at the bank counter in room number 6. It opens at 11.00 hrs. Apart from that it is rather easy to get the work done with a liberal valet. The latest initiative of the corporation is harvesting. It will help overcome the water scarcity problem of the state.

Jagan Mohan palace mysore

2007-07-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

The Jagan mohan palace was built as the construction of the main palace was not yet complete after the old palace burnt down.
After independence the government took over the maintenance of the palace. The palace is used as a art gallery and auditorium. Photography is strictly prohibited within the art gallery, but it has paintings from diferent periods from the history of mysore.

It is being preserved as a heritage building.It was built in 1861 by Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the building is predominantly Hindu style. The building is maintained by the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) in its "Maintain cleanliness, preserve Heritage" initiative.

The huge pavilion at the front (seen in the photograph)has been used for holding meetings of the representative assembly and convocations of university of Mysore. The installation of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV took place in this pavilion in 1902, attended by Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy and governor general of India. The Royal family lived in this palace till the construction of the new Amba Vilas mysore palace in 1912.

Source-http://arjun53ster.googlepages.com/jagan_mohan_palace_notice.JPG

Paying MESCOM bill made easy

2007-07-03T02:59:00.000-07:00

The MESCOM bill can be paid easily by the new ATP machine. The bills can be paid either with cash or with a check. The machine will make the process easy. The bills can also be paid at any time.

The method to pay the bill can be read in the picture below. You can take a look at an enlarged view of it by clicking on the image.

As the process becomes automated, some problems are being encountered.The main problem is that the ATP is not able to suck in the money easily. The currency notes have to be new and crisp. If the notes are old and folded it does not accept such notes.

Road construction continues

2007-07-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

As the construction of the road continues, the vehicles are put into many problems. This lorry is trapped in a patch of mud after rains. And the interest of the people is trapped in it too. As the road construction work continues heavy machinery is at work..

Overbridge construction mysore

2007-06-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

A underpass linking jayanagar with vidyaranipuram is under construction. The pass that allows vehicles to cross the railway line will bring down the travel distance by 4Km. The other underpass which is nearby has a road in very narrow, so this will provide a easier and shorter route.

The bridge extends the road on which ISKON is located to join it to NIE college. This road when complete will be useful to engineering students (NIE), movie goers going to Sterling etc..just to mention a few.

As mysore continues to grow to Mysooru, such changes become frequent.

Mysore Hunsur road under construction

2007-05-24T05:35:00.000-07:00

The Hunsur road is under construction..The road is supposed to be 4 lane when it is completely built. The picture shows the present state of the road under construction. This is stretch near hootagally.

Mysore-home of incense

2007-02-25T05:02:00.000-08:00

Mysore is a land of million aromas. The aroma of incense sticks or agarbathi's is one that has both religious as well as asthetic appeal. Apart from the incense sticks many variants such as doopa's etc.. are also made in Mysore.

The cycle brand agarbathi is a pioneer in incense sticks. Owned by
N RANGA RAO & SONS it is involved in manufacture of incense sticks not only for india but also abroad. It is situated in Mysore with branch offices in various cities. The fact that Mysore is still the leader in the manufacture of incense sticks is proven beyond doubt by this very fact.

The hand rolled, incense sticks, provide employment to numerous people as it is a labor intensive industry. The huge base of workers in Mysore and surrounding areas provides the right atmosphere for such an industry. The variety provided by these incense sticks is diverse.

Mysore rockets-Tipu Sultan the inventor of war rockets

2007-01-24T02:56:00.000-08:00

Chinese are generally credited with the first use of rockets. However, Tipu Sultan (the Tiger of Mysore) is the first person to have used rockets for the purpose of warfare. The rockets used by in Mysore were far more advanced than those used for the purpose of entratainment as fireworks. These rockets were superior in that they used iron tubes for holding the propellant.We could as well see this as the birth of the modern rocket launcher. The use of metal provided higher bursting power leading to longer range.

The Rocket Court-Srirangapatna.

Refrences can be found to prove the use of rockets in the battle of Pollilur (1780) in which the Britishwere defeated - a scene celebrated on the walls of Darya Daulat in Srirangapatna - a strong contributory cause is thought to have been the explosion of Colo Baillie’s ammunitiontumbrils, touched off by Mysore rockets. It is interesting to note that no other armies seem to have used rockets at this period or just prior to that. Where the Mysore rockets simply modifications of the cannon ball?Certainly not as can be seen by the Interest of the British in Mysore rockets.These were different in that they were not accompanied by the recoil as in a cannon.

Thanks to the interest of the British in these rockets, they were studied more scientifically!! The industrial revolution provided the tools and materials needed to further the development of rockets. William Congreve was given the job of improving the range of the rockets for possible use against the French. However, it was as late as the end of second world war that Rockets were used as effective weapons.

Rockets were also used in the 3rd and 4th Anglo-Mysore Wars as well; although they caused much confusion and fear especially when used against massed troops or cavalry, they were too inaccurate to tilt decisively the fortunes of battle in favour of Tipu. The Galaxy bazzar (Taramandal Pet) is the place were the rockets and fireworks were manufactured.These rockets are supposed to have consisted of bamboo poles with sharp ends.

The sorry state of affairs is that the only specimen of the Mysore rockets used by Tipu Sultan is in London in the Royal artillery museum .The Rocket court in Srirangapatnam now lies in ruins, being used as a public toilet.Its indeed worth investigating the origins of the rockets in India prior to the Mysore Rockets. The fate of rockets in Mysore seems to have suffered the same fate as rest of the scientific and technical developments in British India.

The recent interest in the rockets of Mysore was stimulated by our Honourable President APJ Abdul Kalam. In his book "Wings of Fire" he mentions, how he saw the picture of the Mysore's Rocket war in NASA. The fact that today India is not inferior to any other nation in its potential to develop and launch rockets is very reassuring. The Tiger of Mysore, Tipu Sultan would have indeed felt proud of this fact.

Mysore to get electirc buses

2007-01-01T08:50:00.000-08:00

Mysore is soon to become the first city in the country to get electric buses. The routes along which electric lines are to be laid are being surveyed. The most likely routes will include kuvempunagar.

These buses promise to bring in comfort and eco-friendly service to mysoreans. However, the charges may be more costly than the normal fare charged by normal city bus service. How soon these electic buses will be put into service is not very clear though-as the electric lines are to be laid along the entire route.

Mysore Damascus sword

2006-12-16T01:42:00.000-08:00

Was Damascus sword made of Indian steel? Did wootz steel originate in Mysore? Or that the gift King Porus gave to Alexander in the fourth century BC was Ferrum Candidum, believed to be steel? Or that Pliny, writing in the first century BC, says that iron was imported from ‘‘Seres’’ (Cheras)? The list of surprising facts is endless. What is shocking is that we Indians know so little about such an important ancient industry of India.

Mysore wootz steel: Wootz is the anglicized version of ukku in the languages of the states of Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, a term denoting steel. Literary accounts suggest that the steel from the southern part of the Indian subcontinent was exported to Europe, China, the Arab world and the Middle East. India has been reputed for its iron and steel since ancient times. Literary accounts indicate that steel from southern India was rated as some of the finest in the world and was traded over ancient Europe, China, the Arab world and the Middle East. Studies on wootz indicate that it was an ultra-high carbon steel with 1-2% carbon and was believed to have been used to fashion the
Damascus blades with a watered steel pattern.

Wootz steel also spurred developments in modern metallographic studies and also qualifies as an advanced material in modern terminology since such steels are shown to exhibit super-plastic properties.In India till the 19th century swords and daggers of wootz steel were also made at centres including Lahore, Amritsar, Agra, Jaipur, Gwalior, Tanjore, Mysore, Golconda etc. although none of these centres survive today. Different types of Damascus swords have been identified in Salr Jung museum in Hyderabad.

The English word steel and the German Stahl are derived from Stahal in Old High German (~l1th century AD) and contain the reconstituted Indo-European root *sta which can be found in the German verb "stehen /stand" or in English "to stand", and related to the Sanskrit stakati, which means: "it resists". The same root is used in Nordic languages and in modem Russian, Polish, etc. In Celtic languages the same root is generally used, e.g., stailin but other words meaning force or hardness are also found, e.g., dir in Breton.

A major problem in doing scientific experiments on wootz Damascus steel is the inability to obtain samples for study. Such study requires that the blades be cut into sections for microscopic examination, and small quantities must be sacrificed for destructive chemical analysis. A rare example where museum-quality wootz Damascus blades were donated to science for study is reported in the 1924 .

The sword blanks and cakes of ukku wootz were exported in large numbers. Aristotle reportedly commented on its qualities. Some say it dates from around 500 AD. while others say it is far older. But the technology seems to have dwindled and vanished by early 1700's.
But history proclaims that wootz steel came from Mysore and few other southern parts of India.
It means that from yore ,Mysore has had inventions that we could be proud of.Is it sufficient to be proud or do something worthwhile?

Mysore Mallige Idli - the most soft idli's

2006-12-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

Mysore sure is famous for lot of things. And "Mysore mallige rice" sure needs to be branded just like "basmati rice". This variety of rice is exclusively used for making, probably the worlds most soft idli's. These are the Mysore mallige idli's.

Take a look at one of the idli recipe's. The only major difference is that Mysore mallige akki or rice is used in place of ordinary rice. And urad dal is generally not added and puffed rice is used instead. This make the idli more light-which means it has less calories. You can eat as many of these soft and delicious idli's without worrying about your weight.

http://festivals.iloveindia.com/onam/idli.html

I am looking for some places in mysore where mysore mallige idli's are the best. I just am not able to put my finger on one particular place though.

Sri Ramakrishna Vidyashala Mysore

2006-11-22T01:14:00.000-08:00

One of the best resedential schools not only in Mysore , but also in the entire country. Founded nearly 50 years ago, the school is situated in Yadavgiri, Mysore.The school is known as "Home away from home" by its students, due to its atmosphere resembling home. Situated on a huge area of around 30 acres, the school is a pre-composite setup, with classes from 8th standard to the Seoncd year pre university.

You can take a look at the www.srkvs.org site to know more about the school. Vidyashala held its golden jubilee celebrations recently and it was inded a grand event, with golden moments to treasure. You can look at these at
www.srkvs.org/golden_jubilee_photos.html

The school is run by the ramakrishna mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda. Very recently on the 19th November this year, the school held a inter high school competition in general knowledge.It seems to be annual event which attracts large number of students from all the schools across the city. The picture of Buddha under a bodhi tree was taken at vidyashala. The small Statue is blended into the background which has a fountain and resembles a forest. The School also has a nature school, which has facility to teach students amidst the serene atmosphere of the garden. Words seem inadequate to desribe the entire school in a single post though.

From Mysored to mysoored

2006-11-21T03:16:00.000-08:00

The words like "Banglored" now appear in most dictionaries, meaning to say having lost one's job to somebody else in Banglore-a city in India. But have you come across fears of the people of Banglore. Yes these people are talking about being Mysored or chennaied. The fear does not stop there...

I came across a post in which the titl Is "Bored and Mysoored", well not musch differenc in the spelling of Mysoored and mysored, but yes it has a lot of difference if you look at it this way, In this post the person is aldready posted to mysoore. The Feeling of being marooned is pervasive among such people. They seem to have lost the glitter of the big city life. Sentences such as "the internet connection is so slow that..." and "its becoming a pain..." etc show the level of discontent, this can generate. Not that mysore is a village with a single telephone line for the entire city....Actually on the contrary Mysore has one of the best internet connectivities in the country.So much for being Mysoored, I would give a bundle to be mysoored really...honest!!.

Mysore election fever

2006-11-20T05:26:00.000-08:00

Its time for elections in the Chamundeshwari constituency. The only noticable difference i can think of is the bus deteour. Yes!! due to an election meeting in Hinkal, the bus service was delayed, as they had to take a longer route. It is rather a pathetic situation, that this is the case in most of the democracies that, elctions are becoming more and more pre-decide. I am not saying their is no competition bbetween the candidates, the only thing that is amiss is the zeal for development.

I dont blame any specific political party for this, rather i am of the opinion that we are responsible for our own situation. If not for our stupidity, ignorance and among other things carlessness, it would have been a rather vibrant democracy that india would have had. What i mean is that, rather than developmental issues, we are more intrested in issues of dispute. Correct if i am wrong, but it is but natural for me, a person who has never ever cast his vote to complain about politics.

Mysore Railway museum

2006-11-19T06:29:00.000-08:00

Mysore railway museum, situated beside the Mysore railway station, is a interesting place to visit. It has a collection of railway engines, caoches of the erstwhile royal family of Mysore. It was setup in the year 1979, but is exceptionally well maintained by the indian railways. If you want a technical review of whats kept there and its significance to the railways take a look at

http://www.trainweb.org/indiarail/mysore.htm

The visiting hours for the same seem to be fixed between 9 am and 6 pm. I found the mini train ride rather pleasant after the walk through the museum. It can be noted here that Mysore has a huge railway campus near Ashokpuram, where train repair and design takes place. The rail museum has its entrance just opposite to the entrance of CFTRI.

Gopalswamy Betta -great weekend getaway

2006-11-18T06:02:00.000-08:00

The Gopalswamy Betta is famous for its misty peaks and is well known as "Himada Gopalswamy betta" The hill which is situated near mysore has a panaromic view of the Bandipur forest.Best way to reach the place is by your bike, as no bus service seems to be available. The city of mysore is about 90 kilometers from Gopalswamy Betta, so its a going to be quiet a trip, taking around 2 hours.

The hill has a temple of krishna, or some incarnation therof. It is rather difficult to remember and classify the gods of india as they have a different name at each temple.Swamy vivekananda is said to have mentioned something along the lines that there are 33 crore gods and godesses in india. Well if i remember correctly he told that all these gods were of no vail if a person did not have confidence.

The gail forced winds at Gopalswamy Betta are legendary, they are known to have blown away may jackets, and what not...
The proper name for the place is Venugopalswamy betta with the suffix himadvat.If you visit the place make sure it remains clean, with increasing tourist load the place is slowly but steadily getting dirty.and make sure you carry your own food and water.

Mysooru Mallige-Mysore Jasmine

2006-11-17T03:45:00.000-08:00

The other day i was talking about Brand "Mysore", the jasmine flower known locally as Mallige is also branded, though not officially. Its popularity is to the extent that movies titled mysore Mallige have also been screened.The movie which was made during the early 90's was also a big hit.

The bus service run by KSRTC has named a few of its routes as "Mysooru Mallige" due its popularity. Its still not clear tio me how a particular product is branded as belonging to a particular region though. The sweet fragrance of the flower no doubt should qualify as a criteria to differentiate it from other jasmine flowers!!!!!

Mysore tourism-Panchalinga darshan

2006-11-16T01:03:00.000-08:00

Some really informative stuff about panchalinga darshan. It is nearly as good as a virtual tour. Check the Mysore Tourism Web Site www.mysoretourism.org has details on Panchalinga Darshan and also there is a picture gallery, video gallery and also mobile phone download on panchalinga darshan.

Mysore train accident

2006-11-15T07:05:00.000-08:00

The mysore mayiladu Thorai express rammed into a road roller which had stalled on the railway line. Pre-liminary reports suggest no causaulty. The road roller was smashed into pieces by the impact . Although the engine suffered extensive dammage , it seems to have reached the station . Due to the accident the trains between Mysore-Banglore were delayed.

Mysore helmets from tommorow

2006-11-14T01:10:00.000-08:00

The dead line is over. From tommorow Mysoreans are supposed to wear helmets. Although many people have bought helmets, they are yet to wear it. Some feel it is difficult to ride the vehicle with the helmet on. In a debate we had, some people even went to the extent of criticising the helmet of restricting the fiels of view.

Others wanted various innovations to be introduced. The refractive index of the cover should be made such that it does not cause glare. Some others wanted a facility to connect the mobile to the helmet.The debate was rather complicated, with questions being raised about the quality of ISI certified helmets.

Inspite of all the debate, it seems Mysoreans are doomed to wear helmets from tommorow.

Mysore Ayurvedic College

2006-11-13T08:06:00.000-08:00

A ayurvedic hospital which is nearly 100 years old is situated in Mysore. The hospital which was constructed by the maharaja has a college attached to it. The college which started as a gurukula system, later developed into a diploma. The college which was started by Gundulu pandita Lakshmanachari has now become a professional degree course. The course is certified by the government and the doctors are awarded a degree "BAMS"-Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and surgery.

From the past 25 years MD course in Kayachikitsa has been available.Since one year the MD course has also started in Sidanta. The building is situated in the center of the city opposite to the central library. The Hospital and college are situated adjacent to each other. Aprt from this the college also has a separate botanical garden elsewhere.

Panchalinga Darshan-to be held in talkad

2006-11-12T07:37:00.000-08:00

This year the Panchalinga Darshan is being held in talkad.Talkad is situated about 30 miles from mysore on the banks of the river kaveri. This event which takes place once in 12 years is scheduled to take place on november 20th this year. The basis for selecting the day of celebration is rather complicated and based on the hindu calendar. Talkad which has vast stretches of sand has many temples. Many of these temples get buries in sand and dug out only on the occassion of Panchalinga darshan.The famous five temples Vaideshwara, Pathaleshwara, Maruleshwara, Arakeshwara, Mudukuthore Mallikarjuneshwara,gives the festival its name."Pancha"-meaning five and "linga" meaning shiva(god) together it means having the darshan of the five gods.

It is popular belief that bathing in the river kaveri which flows through Talkad during this period is very beneficial. Many diseases are said to be cured by bathing in the river.Howevr, it is difficult for me to comprehend, keeping in mind the level of pollution that has entered our river systems.If you plan to see the temples it would be a good idea to visit now, as the temples have been cleared of all sand.

The Mysore brand

2006-11-11T18:29:00.000-08:00

Now it is official, the brand mysore has been accepted officially. Be it the mysore sandal soap or mysore silk, they are now official. But what about our mysore pak, mysore bonda, mysore rasam and what not..The quality of these products is unquestionable, but without competition, the struggle for excelence dies out.

The charm of the very name mysore seems to attract consumers. But it has to be acknowledged that mysore is a time tested brand, that has stood its ground.Mysore-now mysooru(i keep remebering) is a sure seller when it comes to traditonal products.

The curse on the mysore Maharajas

2006-11-11T04:30:00.000-08:00

A curse is a very horrible thing that can happen to anybody. It is more so when a king is cursed as his entire kingdom suffers. Legend has it or hisotry may have witnessed it-Long ago when the mysore rajas invaded and killed one of the pallegaras, the wife of that chieftain is said to have cursed the kings. The curse has three parts:

Let Thalkad become a desert
The king shall have no children
Let the great river have a whirlpool.

Yes talkad is indeed a desert. Although situated on the banks of a river, sand fills the entire region. Eucalyptus trees grow everywhere.And the second part also seems to be true as the kings adopt a relative as a son.The third part which is rather general can be interrpreted in many ways.

Mysore Hotagalli sunday market

2006-11-07T01:41:00.000-08:00

Near the city of Mysooru formerly mysore, a small village called Hootagalli. In this village, which is now included within the city limits, a new trend has started. A sunday market is being held.Different kinds of vegetables are being sold here. These include cucumbers, raddish, carrot, beans, various types of greens, brinjal, tomatoes, onions, etc.. What is so fascinating about this market is that for the first time so amy farmers who actually grow the vegetables are able to sell it directly to the city folk. Thus, both the buyer and the seller are making a profit. By avoiding the middle men, the farmer makes more profit. Similarly the buyers can buy at a cheaper price.

Does rest of the country have something to learn from this??, may be !! although this trend of sunday markets in the city suburbs is somewhat prevelant in some villages which have become a part of the city it is yet to become a established trend. The practice of sunday markets is very much in vogue in the villages, but let us hope the same spreads to the suburbs as well. Apart from this the city of Mysore has a separate market. This market has now been declared as a heritage site. However, plans to modernise the market has created a public debate. But the results will be known in a few months time. More about the market in a later post.

Its raining helemts

2006-11-03T23:14:00.000-08:00

With the helmet rule becoming compulsory, people could be seen buying helmets. Although the majority of the two wheeler riders dont wear the helmet, it is yet to be seen how strictly the authorities will enforce the law. The Mysoreans have been given a relaxation of 15 days, till november 15th. Some of the bigger shopes had sold out all their helmets, and where waiting for stocks to arrive. The points to note about helmets if you want to buy one are

It should have ISI mark
Beware ISI stickers will not withstand the rains of mysore
Only ISI painted on the helmet is a "good" helemet
The cost of ISI helmets starts from 500 INR

Lot of vendors can be seen selling helmets on the foot path leading upto the city via Hunsur road and other places. Although these helmets are cheaper, they are pasting stickers of ISI. You can buy helmets in the city at places like scooter house and other shops in the same lane, cutting across the old bank road.

Mysore search engine FAQ

2006-11-01T23:57:00.000-08:00

Mysore Search Engine is an attempt at providing all mysore specific results at one place. The search engine can be put up on your site if you want. Just let me know and i will give you the code to be included in your site.

How does Mysore search work?

It is a search engine specifically custom built for Mysore. For example if you want to search for “Mysore palace” you just need to type “palace” in this search engine and you will be taken to the relevant search results. The search results are highly specific as they are from a highly specific database. You can use Mysore search by visiting

http://mysorechronicles.blogspot.com

Will this improve connectivity between mysore related sites?

Yes, for example if somebody is visiting a site about mysore palace and wants to know about hotel bookings, he/she will just have to type hotel in the search box and the person will be presented with a list of hotel related sites in mysore.

How to get my site included in this search engine?

You can have your mysore related sites included in this search engine just by letting me know about such sites, by commenting on this page.You dont need to pay any money for inclusion. Its free.

Can i get my personal pages listed in this search engine?

Sure, but you should be in some way connected to mysore. If not atleast your personal site should have some content about mysore.

Kannada Rajyotsava-state of Mysore becomes karnataka

2006-10-31T20:28:00.000-08:00

Today is the momentous day on which the state of mysore was formally named as the state of Karnataka 50 years ago. As we celebrate the 5oth year, many things have changed. The states were formed based on the languages prevelant in them. However, today the capital of karnataka-banglore is more of a metropolitan city with as many people speaking other languages as kannada if not more.Today as "Banglore" becomes "Bengaluru", not much is changing. English is becoming a language of choice for the students, due to its wide spread use, especially so in the newly emerging BPO industry.

If we need to preserve our language we need some inovative rather than drastic measures, such as picketing english language advertisement boards. When i say inovative, i refer to inititives like essay contests, awards to kannada writers, journalists and otehrs who have been working for kannada. I do agree that these measures may not seem to be suffecient.But atleast let us make an honest begining.

Karanji Lake mysore

2006-10-31T00:35:00.000-08:00

Since i have started talking lakes, let me continue with another lake. The "Karanji lake" is situated on the way to the chamundi hills, just behind the zoo. The lake is being maintained by the zoo authorities and remains in good condition. Generally the lake is open for the public. But tuesdays there seems to be a restriction of some sort. Boating was allowed in the lake, however, things seem to have changed with a few accidents happening in the lake.

This lake also has its own share of birds and Butterflys. It is also called a nature park, due to its huge butterfly population. You can take a look at it in the evening light at

http://vikram404.blogspot.com/2006/08/karanji-lake-nature-park-mysore.html

The lakes in mysore may go the same way that lakes in all the bigger cities have gone. Attempts will be made to make them land fills and build tall buildings.Lets hope the sanity in men will survive and we will let these lakes live.

Kukkarahalli lake -Mysore

2006-10-29T17:09:00.000-08:00

Mysore has a number of lakes, dating back to the times of the maharaja's. when the irrigation system was not very well developed,prior to the construction of the KRS dam across the kaveri river, these lakes provided the water needed by the people of the city. Later on the british built water pumping stations for some of these lakes. Kukkarahalli lake is one of the bigger lakes which has become popular recently due to efforts by the citizens forum of mysore. You can find details about the lake about the lake at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukkarahally_lake

Efforts by the mysore university and other citizens has resulted in cleaning up of the sewage, which was polluting the lake. Now, fishing and boating have been intoduced here. Earlier to its popularisation ,MAN (Mysore Amateur Naturalists) used to organise bird watching expeditions around the lake. With the increased popularity the number of birds has decreased significantly. Some of the birds that could be seen are the Brahmini Kite, Morhon's, various ducks, even some pelicans could be found at the central island-peninsula.

University of mysore

2006-10-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

Mysore has been a center of learning from the days of the maharajas. Mysore is known not only for its university but also for the numerous schools and colleges. The picture sh

ows the craford hall-where earlier students who graduated where given their certificates. The university which is spread over a large area is known as Manasagangothri. With changing times various courses are being introduced in the university. You can know more about the university by visiting their site at

http://www.uni-mysore.ac.in/

earlier the various colleges were affiliated to the university based on their location. However, with the creation of universities specific to the educational strams the colleges affiliated to the university have changed. Now the Vishweshwarya technical university, rajiv-Gandhi Health university have taken up colleges present in mysore as well.

Mysore Rasam and mysore bonda

2006-10-28T04:16:00.000-07:00

No mysore is not all about food. We are not a bunch of people crazy about different varities of food. But who does not like food?? Mysore rasam is appreciated by one and all. If you want to make it take a look at

http://www.sulekha.com/blogs/blogdisplay.aspx?cid=94732&contributor=mika

A rasam is a type of soup..may be. It is either taken directly as soup or mixed with rice and eaten. Since we are talking about food let me tell you about mysore bonda as well. It is a fried food which is very tasty. Although not very popular in mysore, the name mysore bonda is popular and wide spread. You can get a recipe here.

http://www.webindia123.com/cookery/v_recipe/mysorebonda.htm

Well i dont cook, so please dont blame me if these recipes cause any problems.

Terrorists in Mysore!!!

2006-10-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

The very thought of terror attacks in mysore is frigthening.With a long list of soft targets it would have been vey vulnerable. However, this warning bell will suerly make it very difficult for terrorists to attack mysore.The arrests which were made late thursday night at around 2pm in vijaynagar near to the infosys campus shows the high degree of alertness of the police force. whatever the reason and justification for terrorism it will not be able to explain the killing of innocent people. With these arrests the terrorists have made their intentions very clear--they will attack anything that is not gaurded. Since they lack the courage or rather the numbers to attack a well gaurded location, which has become evident in the recent attacks on the parliament and other places they will try to attack maxium impact targets that are not well gaurded.The 2terrorists who where arrested in mysore have been identified by their pakistani passports. The terror group is known as "al-badr", and it seems to be its first attack attempt outside of kashmir.

So long then. Life moves on in mysore, people not gripped by terror as much they are in various other terror prone locations..??If at all terror can be localised.

CFTRI Mysore-Central food technology research institute

2006-10-26T22:53:00.000-07:00

The central food technology research institue situated in Mysore is a part of the CSIR institutes that are invlolved into reasearch in various fields of science. The institute whch opened during 1950's was a result of the severe food problems caused due to the famines and wars that ravaged this country during its formative years after independence. The website offers more information about history and that sort of stuff. You can visit them at

http://www.cftri.com

The institute offers project internships to students in the various departments in the institute. And several full time doctoral and post doctoral oppurtunities can be found here. Apart from this they provide various Msc courses as well.For detailed information you need to check out their website.Some really fascinating things like dosa machine have been made by them. Various patents are taken by them every year. The institute which is the "forerunner in food technology" also offers solutions to private sector firms as well.The location which is a huge campus is situated in between theKukrahalli lake and the railway museum. The recent terrorist attack at the Indian institute of science has resulted in beefed up security here as well. When i visited the institute during its 50th anniversarry celebration various things like bio-degradable plastics, biscuits made from ragi,wheat,rice etc where shown to us...and we ate one and it was delicious. Glass blowing was also demonstrated to us.They have the state of the art facilities as far befitting any institute of such repute.

Mysore Search Engine-Mysooru Hudukuwa Yantra

2006-10-25T23:31:00.001-07:00

Every great city needs its own search engine. So i am presnting to you the Mysore Search engine. Optimised to search for more mysore specific results every time. You can use the search bar above to search using Mysore search engine. If you want to have your site included in this search engine you can let me know. At present it is presenting many of the results similar to the main google search, however, as more refinements are made the engine becomes more mysore friendly.

The homepage of the Mysore search engine is

http://google.com/coop/cse?cx=006220872262304550041%3Aovrstpzr4r4

You can put the search engine box on your site by pasting the code in this blog with the search engine title. If the name is not included the engine will become non-operational after some time.And those of you who want to contribute can do so by contacting me either through this blog or by the Mysore search engine home page.

Mysore pak-the famous dessert of Mysore

2006-10-25T23:31:00.000-07:00

So you have heard of the famous sweet called "Mysore pak". The sweet named after Mysore is available even in other cities due to its huge sucess. If you are planning to cook it you can follow the steps below
Ingrdients:
Sugar-100gms,
Water-50ml
Bengal gram flour - 100gms
Ghee-150ml
Keep all ingrdients ready.First time it is better to try out small quanities.
Place water and sugar in a thick bottom pan and keep a long laddle handy.Do it on low fire,stir this sugar and water until a thin(thread like consitency is formed)slowly add the fine flour ,stir well and go on adding the ghee.A strong appetizing aroma brings every body in-but don't get distracted,keep stirring until ,the ghee is seen on the sides of the pan,when it is still semi solid stop heating and pour into a greased plate which you should have kept ready before hand.Cut into square or triangular shapes.This is Mysore pak but if you didnot do it right it may look like Mysore map instead of pak.Goodluck-try to make it.
You would make your family memebers very happy if you can cook it at home. Though you can find it most of the sweet stalls. However, I would recommend you to buy from Krishna sweets near the Appolo hospital or Mahalakshmi sweets in Vidyaranyapuram. Even Bombay tiffani's mysore pak seemed ok. You can even order it some of the hotels in Mysore. The tast of Mysore pak cant be described in words--sure enough--but you should taste it atleast once when you come to Mysore.

One of my classmates who had come here from far of delhi, liked the sweet so much that he took a load full while going back. Infact he was asking me where to get the best variety of the sweet. May be he will eventually get addicted to it...hehehehe...And those of you who cant visit mysore right now, you could prepare it by using the recipe given in the letzcook blog given above.You can even get a look at the wonderful delicousy on that blog.

Ganduberunda-mythological bird of mysore wodeyars

2006-10-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

'Ganduberunda' is a mythical bird that is the royal emblem of the royal family of Mysore, the wodeyars. Later on after independence the government of Karnataka has taken up the same symbol as the emblem for state government. The bird which was present in the flag of the erstwhile kingdom og Mysore is known to be a very very strong bird capable of lifting even elephants. The uniqueness of the bird is that it has two heads with a single body.The bird can be found in many carvings in temples and even in the palace. I hope to put up a picture of the same along with the legend behind it in a separate post. The emblem is also present on the KSRTC bus service. This is a state run bus service and has the bird as its logo. The picutre of the bird can be found in the tickets issued by the bus service. The bird is shrouded in mystery due to its mythical and magical prowess. The bird is also known by other names such as 'Gandaberunda' or 'Gunda Berunda' just 'Berunda'. Some claim that the bird is an eagle which had two heads. The bird is supposed to have been visible only to the maharaja of mysore. Later during the British rule, the symbol was used as part of a badge with the motto 'i will defend the right'. Many such gifts were given to the RAF during the world war. You can find details at http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1940s/Presentation.html

I am reminded of the folk-story of a two headed bird.The two headed bird was living in a forest.One of the head comes across a very sweet and juicy fruit, but instead of sharing it with the other head it eats it up alone. The other head overcome by jealosy, goes in search of a poisonous fruit and eats it up. The two headed bird then dies of the poison. Well the moral of the story is 'think before you act'. The action of the bird in its jealous rage got it killed. Mostly this is a story from the panchatantra or some subashita.

Mysore-Legend behind the name

2006-10-24T02:24:00.000-07:00

Every name of indian origin generally has meaning attached to it. The name of Mysore is no exception.
The word 'Mysore' which is the anglised version of mysooru is based on the mythological demon Mahishasura. Mahishasura is belived to have been residing at this place. And when he became very powerful he started tormenting the humans residing in the area.His atrocities became unbearable and the people prayed to the gods for mercy. The godess Durga blessed with various weapons of the gods descended to the bhuloka (earth) to vanquish the demon. This avatara of the godess is known by the name 'Chamundeshwari' or 'Mahishasura Mardini', meaning the vanquisher of the demon Mahishasura. The godess is known to have killed the demon and brought peace to the people. The Chamundeshwari temple atop the Chamundeshwari hill is a place of pilgrimage. A idol of the godess is present in the temple, which is considered to be having the spirit of the godess. The picture shows the statue of Mahishasura present on the hill. This is present near the entrance leading to the temple complex. A more detailed post on the various places of interest on the hill will be put up shortly.To mention a few you could also visit the Nandi statue, the temples of various other deities present in the same premises.

Where is Mysore?

2006-10-23T00:04:00.000-07:00

Somebody i met during my discussions on the web asked where Mysore was located. So i thought it would be good to post about that.SO assuming you know that there is a planet called earth in the solar system which is a part of milky way. I present to you the world map of earth.In the map you can see a red box surrounding a country called india.To the left end of the map.The red box shows a state called Karnataka in the country called India. India is situated in the continent of asia. A blue dot present in the red box denotes the location of this city called mysore. Like any other small city it may not be present on the bigger maps.But it is generally present in maps of india.Well so to say its making a mark on the map of india.

Mysore to become Mysooru

2006-10-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

It has been officially declared that Mysore will revert to its pre-colonial name of Mysooru from November 1st. The decision comes along with decision to name banglore as banglooru and manglore as mangalooru. This is a phenomenon that has been happening in other states as well. Madras has become Chennai. Calcatta has become Kolkatta.The move to switch to pre-colonial names is supposed to foster love for native language. Though it is being criticised by many as a mere political move, the physchological effect may have a positive effect on the society. The British who ruled the country for nearly 200 years, changed the names of various cities to those that could be spelt by them easily. In the case Mysooru, it is easier for them pronounce My-sore. well it might have been an eye sore for them to see such a rich and prosperous country when compared to their tiny little island. The internet though will be slow in adapting to the change, we have to wait and see how other sreact to the change as well. will the popular evening daily Star of Mysore become Star of Mysooru.. we shall be tracking the growth of the word Mysooru on the internet as weel. as of today we have just 678 results for the same. and google suggests the more appropriate name of Mysore.More about the history behind the name in some other post.

Infosys Mysore-is mysore a dead end??

2006-10-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Infosys has built the biggest trainign center at mysore. The training center supposed to be built with an expenditure of more than 200 crores is having facilities that can be found only in five star hotels. The center is situated in the Hootagalli industrial area on the way to KRS (Krishna Raja Sagar). But some suspect that the decission to build the training center was driven by the poor infrastructure of the city which cannot support a full fledged development center. The city still is in the process of building a bigger operational airport. Although the Mysore Banglore 4lane highway construction is over. The 4lane roadway is a very effecient patch of work with vehicles going at high speeds. So it generally takes 3 hours to travel from one city to the other. The lack of railway lines connecting to other southern states directly from mysore is being considered as a reason for considering Mysore as a dead end. Only time will tell if the infrastructure in mysore is good enough. Many other software majors such as IBM, Wipro etc are thought to have bought to have got large tracts of land nearby as well. The infosys campus suerly is majestic and its dome's light can be seen from nearly 3kms away. More about the campus later in some other post may be.

Mysore-Flowers, birds and weather

2006-10-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

The weather in mysore is genrally very pleasent, not to much hot sun but bright days. Although it may get tricky when it starts raining, it is not very humid as it can become in places like Chennai(erstwhile Madras), Manglore, and other coastal towns. Check this picture in which a tiny little bird is perching on the branch. There are plenty of birds, especially in the large patches of trees that can be fund in the city as well as other extension areas. And a very intresting fact about mysore and its dassara is that every year during the procession it rains. although not torrentially..I do enjoy watching the procession-rain or shine.. Due to the Kaveri river that flows near by and the dam built across it, there is no shortage of water as such, and agricultural fields abound in the villages surrounding Mysore. The city even has got a few bird watching groups, notable among them is MAN (Mysore Amature Naturalists) mostly....

Mysore Palace-The Grandeur of Mysore

2006-10-18T04:30:00.000-07:00

Mysore is known as the city of palaces. But when some body refers to the mysore palace the reference is to the Amba vilas palace. This is also called the main palace. The significance of this palace can be appreciated by knowing that the world renowned Dassara procession starts from here. The current palaces was built as the previous palace got burnt in a fire. To know more about the palace, its architectural history and interiors check out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysore_Palace

The debris from the palace that was gutted in the fire was dumped in the fields surrounding the outter extremes of the city. This has now become part of the extension layouts. More about the effect of these debris on the gardens of these areas in a latter post.
The above picture of the palace taken at the night can be seen only during the days leading upto the the Dassara festival and few days there after. The Lighting is removed during rest of the year.

Mysore-the new face

2006-10-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

The sleepy pensioners paradise is now being considered as the next IT Destination. Many new companies are mushrooming in the city.

In "Mysore Chronicles" we focus not only on this sudden economic change but also on the history, heritage and changing life of Mysoreans.As of todya google returns as many as 6,340,000 sites matching the query "Mysore". If this is any index of the growth of the city on the world map we will keep track of this as we move along.

However, everybody accepts that the emergence of demand for land in any city is a sure indicator of coming economic progress. Here we not only look at material benefits but also its effect on other factors as well