Musafir

After a hectic and tiresome day in Shivanasamudra and Srirangapatna, we slept like as if we were drunk to the core. We were eagerly waiting for the next day trip. We all were ready by 8 in the morning for our next leg of the journey.

The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha. Mahisha stands for Mahishasura, a demon from Hindu mythology. Mysore is famous for the festivities that take place during the Dasara festival when the city receives a large number of tourists.

Our first destination was the Chamundeswari Temple. According to Hindu mythology, the area around Mysore was known as Mahishūru or Mahishapuram. It was ruled by a demon, Mahishasura. The demon was killed by the Goddess Chamundeshwari, whose temple is situated atop the Chamundi Hills. The hill is 3,489 ft. above the sea levels and is 12 km from Mysore city. An energetic visitor will be well repaid by climbing up the 1000 steps, fashioned about 300 years ago, and a good motorable road leads to the top of the hill. There is a large statue of the demon Mahishasura in front of the temple.

The temple here is in the Dravidian style. It is said that Raja Wodeyar (about 1600 AD) intended to build a gopura, and for that purpose erected four large pillar posts, which were removed when the present gopura was built by Krishnaraja Wodeyar  III. He built a gopura with golden finials, and set up statues of himself and his 3 queens in the presence of the Goddess. There are sculptures carved on granite in the main entrance of the temple.

We had a nice darshan of the deity and came outside. We then had coconut water as it was too hot. Even the cost of the coconut was very less compared to outside.  On the way back we stopped for some time again to take pictures. There is a nice viewpoint from which the entire Mysore City is visible. We can recognize all the major tourist destinations down below from that point. After that we went over the Lalit Mahal Palace which is a Five Star Hotel now. Although tourists are not allowed inside the Hotel premises, we sneaked in and took some pictures. 

We moved on to the very famous Mysore Zoo. It is a very large and unique collection of all types of species, land and water. There is a very good Aviary over here with beautiful birds. It took 3 hours to visit all the enclosures in the Zoo. We then had lunch and moved on to the St. Philomena’s Church.

St. Philomena's church is a church built in the honour of St. Philomena in the Diocese of Mysore. It was constructed in 1936 using a Neo Gothic style and its architecture was inspired by the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. Saint Philomena is  a saint and martyr of the Roman Catholic Church. She is said to have been a young Greek princess martyred in the 4th century. The church at the same location was built in 1843 by the then Maharaja Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar. The entire church is extremely beautiful from outside and inside. The church looks like a chocolate cake waiting to be eaten. The twin spires of the church stand at a height of 175 feet. The cathedral has a crypt that houses the statue and the relic of St. Philomena is preserved in a catacomb below the main altar.

We then moved to our final leg of our tour, the Ambavilas Palace.