Karnataka - Tourism & Wildlife - Mysore @ whatisindia.com

MYSORE
It is 139 Km away from Bangalore. The former capital of the princely state and Karnataka' s second largest city. It is a city of royal palaces, a centre for manufacture of incense sticks and sandalwood. India's richest silk woven golden threads can be purchased here.

City Palace
It is at Mirza Road. Visit to Palace- daily 10 - 5. Entry fee - Rs.10, Visit to Museum - daily 10.30 - 6.30, Entry fee - Rs.10. Shoes cannot be worn inside the palace. Camera not allowed. The Palace was designed by Henry Irwin and built in 1897 after a fire burnt down the old wooden palace. It is one of the largest palace in India. The stained glass, wall paintings, ivory inlaid doors and the ornate golden throne are all remarkable.

The Maharaja's Residence is now converted into a museum. The costumes, children's toys, musical instruments, photographs and numerous portraits are placed at the ground floor. A small collection of weapons are displayed on the upper floor.

Chamundi Hill
South east of Mysore, 2 1/2 Km south of Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel. Visit to Temple- Daily 6.30 - 12.30 and 4 - 8.30. Visit to Godly Museum - Daily 9 - 6. Both Entry - free.

The temple is dedicated to Durga Devi an avatar of Parvathi, Shiva's consort) for celebrating her victory over buffalo god. From the top of hill you can see the panoramic view of Mysore. There was a giant statue of Mahishasura, the demon who was killed by the goddess Chamundi (Durga Devi) near the temple. The Godly museum contains the gaudy paintings of eternal life and harmony.

Chamarajenendra Art Gallery
It is at Jaganmohan Palace (1861). Visit : 0800 - 1700, Entry fee - Rs.5. It displayed the Indian miniature paintings including the paintings of Ravi Verma and Nicholas Roerich. The Ivory. sandal wood, antique furniture, ceramics, stone and old musical instruments are also placed in it.

The zoo here was established in 1892. It is surrounded by 5 sq.km with well kept lawns and gardens. The tigers are the main wild animal bred here.

Brindavan Garden
This garden is situated at Krishnaraja Sagar Road, 19 Km northwest of Mysore. Garden is open daily, but the fountain show is there only in spring, week days : 7 - 7.55, week ends 8 - 8.55, in winter daily 6.30 - 7.25PM. Entry fee Rs.5. Camera - Rs.10. The main attraction is the 'dancing musical fountains'. The garden is fully illuminated during the night.

Government Silk Weaving Factory
This factory is at Mananthody Road. Visit : Monday to Saturday (except 2nd Saturday of the month) 10.30 - 5, Entry - free. The Maharaja of Mysore created this factory in 1932 to obtain the finest hand-loomed silks for himself and and his royal family. Today it is run by the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation.

The Nagarhole (Rajiv Gandhi) National Park
It is at Coorg, between Kodagu and Mysore districts. 93 Km south west of Mysore. Entry fee - Rs.15. This park was established in 1954. The forest is cover with the valuable teak and rosewood trees. The Kabini River, flows through the deciduous forest. The Kuruban (honey gathers) tribes and various other tribes live here with there ancient ways.

The park has elephants, wild cats, Indian wild dogs (dhole), Indian bison (gaur), flying squirrels, sloth bears, sambar, 4-horned antelopes, monkeys and panthers. The Malabar trogon, Indian Pitta, pied hornbill, whistling thrush, green imperial pigeon, black wood peckers and many variety of birds are seen here. There are machans near water holes to view the animals and birds. At Haballa, there was a 'Elephant Training Camp' run by Government can also visit.

Sravanabelagola
It is 84 km north of Mysore. The Statue of the Jain saint Gommateshwara carved in AD981 is situated in this small town. This colossal monolithic statue is 58 ft high, naked, with 26 ft wide shoulders, 10-ft of its feet.

Reference:
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