Brindavan Gardens-the charm still persists

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.

Gopalaswamy betta at noon

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.

Jagan Mohan palace mysore

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

Gopalswamy Betta -great weekend getaway

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.

Mysore tourism-Panchalinga darshan

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.

Panchalinga Darshan-to be held in talkad

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.

Karanji Lake mysore

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

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.