Tipu Sultan's Palace. Camera's were not allowed inside the Palace, but some people continued to use their cell phone camera inside ignoring the rules.
Tired horses outside the Palace grounds pulled carts for visitors to ride.
Gumbaz at Srirangapatna is a beautiful building with intricate carvings, a mausoleum for Tipu Sultan's family.
There were some beautiful white horses outside the Gumbaz available for hired rides. What caught my eye was the thin,starved looking horse among them. It is sad to see that people do not realize how overworked and underfed some animals are.
The Mysore Palace (Maharaja Wodeyar's Palace) in Mysore has beautifully carved and painted interiors,showing off craftsmanship of a bygone era. The grandeur and opulence of royalty of the past is seen in its rich colors,use of material and precision of craft work.
The sad part of these visits is seeing these elephants and camels available for rides are kept in such sad conditions. one camel was tied down that it was not even able to stand up to its full height.
Brindavan Gardens was a dried up version of what I remember from my childhood days of visiting Mysore. In the middle of Summer it is to be expected, but by the time the dancing fountain started quite a crowd had gathered to watch the water fountain with colored lights and music.
The long trek that we used to take over the big dam has been much shortened with an entrance into the gardens leading a short path to the start of the bridge that takes us across the lake to the dancing fountains. I actually missed the long route,since we did not get a chance to see the view from the top of the dam.
Chamundi Hills covered in a morning cloud.
The zoo was disappointing and sad that most of the animals did not have enough space. The snakes were in tiny glassed in cages and this was in the middle of Summer,cannot imagine how uncomfortable these animals were in such confined places.
Especially after having visited Bannerghatta National Park where animal spaces are definitely not as constricting as at this zoo.
It was definitely exciting for the kids to see animals they would normally only see in their books.
A trip to Mysore as a kid and later as an adult has made a lot of difference. It was not just that many places had changed but it was how I see things differently. From a perspective that comes with having experienced life.
