Mysore big Clock tower

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

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

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

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

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.

The Lansdowne market

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

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.

Sri Ramakrishna Vidyashala Mysore

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.

Mysore Railway museum

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.

Mysore Ayurvedic College

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.

University of mysore

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.

CFTRI Mysore-Central food technology research institute

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.