Mysore - Heaven on Earth!. Review on Mysore

This city occupies a special place in my heart. There are very few places that I find myself comfortable in. And Mysore is definitely among them. Maybe, because I know (or rather knew!) the city inside out. A city, very often referred to as “The Pensioners’ Paradise” or “The City of Palaces”, has more to it than just sightseeing. I am confident my review is going to add considerably to your knowledge about Mysore.

1. How was the name “Mysore” derived?

Traditionally, names of cities have been derived from the names of kings, who ruled them, from names of Gods or Goddesses, or some kind of evolution from their native language. Mysore has a different tale to tell in this regard. Mysore is derived from the name of the buffalo-headed demon Mahishasura. Mahishasura was believed to be the gatekeeper of the city who turned greedy and began harassing the human beings. The demon was slain by the Goddess Chamundeshwari.

2. History

Mysore has some associations with Mahabharata and King Asoka it is said. There is some mention about Mysore city in reference to articles during 10 AD. But the earliest concrete recording in history was by Raja Wodeyar who set up Srirangapatna as his headquarters in early 1600 AD. Srirangapatna is an island formed by the separation and confluence of River Kaveri. Being an island it offered security and was hence was much sought-after for being the capital of kingdoms. Srirangapatna was where the fort was and the people lived in the nearby areas.

Natural Advantage of Mysore

1. The Land in and around Mysore was fertile and favoured agriculture heavily.

   
   




2. The location was in itself a center point for South India on the whole.

   
   




3. On East end you have the River Kaveri protecting the city. To the south end you have the forests and hills, which were almost impregnable. To the west you have the Western Ghats and then the sea. Being the center point for South India and with such natural advantages, Mysore was the right choice for capital of kingdoms.

   
   




4. The climate was extremely pleasant for the kings and queens. (This is also the reason for having so many palaces in the city)

   
   

Hyder Ali conquered Mysore from the Wodeyars in 1761 AD. He proved to be an able administrator and under him Srirangapatna and Mysore attained heights of prosperity and greatness. His son Tippu Sultan proved to be no less. Under them, Mysore and Srirangapatna were the envy of everybody including the Britishers.

In 1799 AD, in a brutal battle, the Britishers killed Tippu Sultan and took control of the state of Mysore. The Five-year-old Prince Krishnaraja Wodeyar (III) was installed the King of Mysore on the throne of his ancestors. Then began the British Rule under which Mysore again benefited. It was administered under the British Commission from 1831 to 1881 after a spell of governance under the great Dewan Purnaiah, who survived the Hyder-Tippu era.

Wodeyars were extremely interested in culture and art. Palaces, Paintings, Temples and the music maestros stand testimony to the fact. Mysore was the only highly industrialized state in India during that time. Legends like Sir Mirza Ismail and Sir M. Visveshwaraiah who served under the Wodeyars were visionaries who helped the state develop immensely.

3. Sight-seeing places

Don't miss the following. They are each masterpieces in their own right! These are the must-see category:

· The Mysore Palace (Wodeyars’ Palace)

· Brindavan Gardens (KRS Dam)

· Sri Chamarajendra Zoological garden (The Zoo)

· St. Philomena's Church (The Church)

· Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery – Jaganamohan Palace

· Rail Museum (The Wodeyars’ train is the main attraction)

· The temple of Goddess Chamundeshwari atop the Chamundi Hills

I have not bothered to mention how to get there because once you are in Mysore you are taken around these places automatically. Well, if you aren’t M2M me and I can guide over the mobile. (Matrix ishtyle!)

4. Hotels to stay in

The premium-end hotels are:

• Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel (This is the one in which film shootings take place)

  
  




• Hotel Quality Inn Southern Star

  
  




• Kaynes Hotel

  
  




• Hotel Ramanashree, Mysore

  
  




• The Viceroy

  
  




• Hotel Metropole (This one had closed down a few years earlier. If I am right, it is back now with a different name) Extremely close to the Railway Station.

  
  




• Dasaprakash Paradise – Nearby to the railway station.

  
  

The medium-end hotels are:

• Hotel Ayodhya

  
  




• Hotel Siddharta

  
  




• Bombay Indra Bhavan

  
  




• Hotel Airlines

  
  




• Hotel Brindavan

  
  




• Hotel Highway

  
  




• Hotel Indra Bhavan

  
  




• Hotel Maurya , Mysore

  
  




• Kings Kourt Hotel

  
  




• Mysore Dasaprakash (The most preferred one in this segment)

  
  




• Hotel Govardhan

  
  

5. Economy of Mysore

• Tourism (any doubts!)

  
  




• Sandalwood. The Late Veerappan was the Big Baron of Mysore Sandalwood. The significance of this sandalwood was the amount of money this industry earned. Guesstimates say 90% of this industry is black and the whole is equal to approximately Rs. 4,000 Crores. That’s bigger than the combined turnover of the software companies that form the bottom 80% of the lucrative software industry!

  
  




• The fast-developing industrial belt around the city. Nanajangud hosts the TVS manufacturing plant for Victor and Fiero. JK Tyres recently took over a sick tyres company called “Vikrant Tyres”. BEML, Kirloskar Limited are among the big industries in that belt

  
  




• Infosys Technologies Limited has a Leadership Institute based at Mysore where they coach and mentor the budding top management of Infy. Also, Infy is planning on one of the biggest hostels in the world for their training institute. A bird’s eye-view of the hostel would form into the shape of INFOSYS! And each alphabet would be seven floors high!

  
  




• The increasing number of software engineers who travel in and out of Bangalore every weekend. These engineers are the ones who pass out of the four engineering colleges in this city. Two of which are old and extremely famous (NIE – The National Institute of Engineering [check out my review on this college], and SJCE – Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering). The other two are relatively new but are fast catching up with their older counterparts (VVCE – Vidya Varthaka College of Engineering and VVIET – Vidya Vikas Institute of Engineering and Technology).

  
  




• How many of you cast your vote? Do you remember the ink that they apply on your finger after you have voted? That ink is produced in Mysore. Imagine the size of the industry if you have to produce ink for the entire country during the elections. And in our country, there is an election running in some state or the other every time. So, this is another area of revenue generation for Mysore.

  
  

Continued in the next part:

Some problem with hosting reviews bigger than 8000 characters. Please proceed to the comments section for more of my review. The Part II has been accomodated in the comments section. Thanks.

Regards,

Adi.