Mysore-2

Party Animal

Somanathpur Temple

Palatial Lunch Stop

Mysore Market

Jan. 16, 2013-Techno Chic

We have a new bus & driver. Charles rocks! Unfortunately this driver doesn't have fast enough reflexes. We passed a black & white cow painted for the festival (Pongal) only they used turmeric powder to make the white part yellow. It was striking but we didn't pull over fast enough & Elsie wandered away. But luck was with us. There was no shortage of painted cows & soon we came upon a party colored one with the addition of red horns.

The area we drove through is highly agricultural growing rice, corn, & millet. Millet is laid on the roadway after harvest so vehicles can run over it. That separates the grain from the chaff so it's more easily collected & saves on buying a thresher. And here I am on the bus using my IPad making notes about famers who are working their fields the same as their families have for generations.

Mysore is named after a demon king. We were on our way to the archeological dig when we came upon yet another pilgrimage. Thought that was over, but here they never lack for a reason to put on a show. Charles found out that these people were clever & deliberately went late to avoid the crowds. One man was carrying a two year old boy who was naked from the waist down. He held him up to the bus for me to take his picture then held him closer so the boy could see it.

A down side of everyone waving at us happened when we'd gotten off the bus to take pictures of a river & boys floating by in caraculs. A tuk-tuk was passing & the passenger waved at David. His hand hit David's glasses & knocked him down. The glasses cut his face a bit so he'll be sporting a black eye. The cut is minor & David is ok. Quite the excitement. At first Charles thought it was a deliberate act of violence & was shocked. After we explained what happened he turned into his mothering mode & got us  water & ice. Purell followed. I think the major loss was David's handkerchief.

Comparative Religion

Buddhism originated in India but there are hardly any Buddhists left. It started as a rebellion against Hinduism's caste system which it blamed on materialism. It embarrassed the Brahmins & they wanted to destroy the Buddha. Of the two sects of Buddhism one saw Buddha as a god while the other saw him as a man. In order to stop the conversion of Hindus to Buddhism some Hindus adopted Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu.

Jainism was founded around the same time. Jain means conquerer; victory over materialism. It's similar to Buddhism but absolutely non-violent. they are pure vegetarians and don't eat anything grown underground, like potatoes, to prevent accidentally killing insects in digging them up.  One sect wears white, the others are naked,  beg for food, eat only one meal a day, & never sit to eat  Only 2% of the population in India is Jain & most are from Rajistan. Ironically, they're a very rich community consisting mostly of business people. Charles said they won't kill an insect but are money lenders & suck the blood from the poor. They don't worship a god but respect the guru.

Farsis came to India from Iran in the 11th century after being persecuted by Moslems. Most are in Mumbai. They're very wealthy & own Tata, the largest auto company in India. Dead bodies are offered to the birds in a tower of silence in Mumbai then are bones collected & dissolved in chemicals.

X-Rated Moths

The worst road of the trip  bounced us along our way to a silk moth reproduction center. Fascinating. Something we've never seen before. Male & female moths were being mixed together on trays where they immediately "hooked up." They were allowed to "make whoopee" for four hours before being separated. The males were put in a freezer which David referred to as the ultimate cold shower. The females laid 300 eggs after 48 hours while males rest for a day before being re-enlisted . Males mate three times before  they die. Females die after laying the eggs. Because this factory is for reproduction & selling eggs the larvae are allowed to hatch themselves from the cocoon thus destroying the silk & relegating it to a second grade product.

Across the street from the moth factory was a secular school. The children were lined up in the yard reciting national prayers in Hindi & singing the national anthem. My thought was that in the U.S. parents would object to them not wearing sun screen or hats.

Of Temples & Kings

Our destination was reached. The Somanathpur Temple dates from the 13th century. It's dedicated to Vishnu & is an example of Hoysala architecture rare in this region. Moguls came in the 14th century & destroyed  most of the temples. This one was saved for its beauty & uniqueness. To assure it wouldn't be used for worship they broke all the noses on each of the thousands of images decorating interior & exterior walls & all ceilings. The temple took fifty-eight years to build & is carved  from soapstone. That stone is easier to carve than granite then hardens when exposed to the air. The intricacy of the carvings & the details depicted as the structure rises into three conical towers  covering three interior shrines gives the overall impression that it's made of wet sand dripped from a hand. The sandcastle effect is born out even on closer inspection. Aside from the usual animals, flowers, & humans Charles was sure to point out three scenes from the Kama Sutra. Very educational. There's a human intimacy of scale to the structure. Amazing what you can accomplish with the help of slaves.

To give us a taste of luxury, lunch was at the Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel built in 1932 in the Indo-Islamic style. It is now run by the government & bureau of tourism. We were shown to the $1000 suite. It was classic  aged opulence but poorly maintained. The grounds could be stunning, but again there's the neglect. And for your money you get bottled water in your room because the water is unclean to drink. We ate in a two story, blue, white, & gold painted ballroom surrounded by arched balconies. The food was the best we've had varying from paneer in spinach sauce, to persimmon seeds in a lentil salad, to eggplant in a ginger, coconut, yogurt sauce. Wonderful as it was, we're beginning to develop a yen for pizza.

As we walked to the bus a magician began to perform. He sat cross-legged on the ground beaming his toothless smile & pointing out that at age sixty-two he didn't have a gray hair in his head. His tricks weren't any we hadn't seen before but his patter was adorable. In an Anglo/Indian patois he explained how he'd been on the Discovery Channel, BBC, & had met Steven Seagal.

Our bus climbed the steep road of Chamundi Hill a spot overlooking Mysore where we were treated to a postcard perfect photo op. The official "aerial viewing spot" wasn't good enough for our over-achieving guide. No, we had to go to the summit. White domed palaces & hotels dotted the valley in the center of which was a small lake & racetrack. There was haze just on the horizon & the distance allowed us to imagine what the place would look like without, you got it, trash. Another stop brought us to the Nanthi sculpture of a massive black bull, the vehicle of Shiva, where we were approached by the ever more aggressive salespeople. 

It was a long day & not over yet. We made our way to the palace where we'd seen the sound & light show last night. The crush of sightseers was phenomenal. We tried to stay together as a group but another mass of humanity tried to cut us off going through the gate. I got between them & us holding my arms out wide. Being tall & long limbed I managed to stave off the crush until we all passed through. As I turned to look over my shoulder I noticed that the man who I thought was their group leader had an automatic rifle. Oops! Not a tour guide but palace guard. I'm not shot or in jail so I consider myself fortunate. As if to prove that theory, as we waited to check our cameras, a bird pooped on my shirt. Lucky for me George isn't squeamish. He mopped me off & we Purelled.

The main palace building is divided into a residential & ceremonial sections with the royal family still living there. It was built around 1932 in the Indo-Islamic-European style. Gifts from around the world went into its construction. There was English steel in the chandeliers decked out in Murano glass. French sculpture mixed with panoramic paintings by local artists depicting palace festivals. Marble from Italy & rosewood doors, trim, & carvings were side by side with inlaid semi-precious garlands of flowers ala the Taj Mahal. While not as luxurious as some European castles, it was a good representation of the luxury in  which the royal family lived.

David needed an ATM so instead of going back to the hotel we walked through another market with Charles & four others. Charles knew of an ATM nearby but it not only didn't work. It was dismantled. We returned to the hotel while Charles & David were dropped off in search of a functional cash dispenser. They took a tuk tuk back & we're not only solvent again but Charles will get his tip tomorrow.

           

Our final banquet is tonight. It's hard to believe we'll be saying good-bye to those folks tomorrow. We will all transfer via this bus to Bangalore where they get on a plane & we spend the night in preparation for our extension to Goa.

Toby