Chamundi Hills, Mysore, India

Today Maya and I woke up very early and drove to Chamundi Hills.  It has elevation of about 3,280 + feet and you can see the whole of Mysore. 


Here is a brief story  about Chamundi Hills that Maya found very interesting: There was a demon named Mahishasura (Ma-heesh-a-sura) and he was king of Mysore. He prayed for a long time to the god Vishnu and was granted a wish. His wish was that he could not be killed by any man or animal. The gods granted him this wish. He became a harsh and evil ruler, since he new nobody could ever kill him. The people of Mysore complained to the gods because there life that he was  destroying them and the city. A goddess named Chamundashswari ( Cha-moon-dashe-worry) came down from the heavens and there was a fierce battle. The King was destroyed. When the king asked for his wish he never considered that a woman could destroy him!

Maya got right away and said " the woman always has to fix everything!". That alone was worth the whole trip to India!! Her are some pictures of the hill, on the very top is a sacred temple. It was overwhelmingly packed  and we decided not to go in.

The carvings on the temples are amazing:

Along with cows, bulls, dogs ,masses of people there are also monkeys all around the temple!

This sign is posted at the temple, I thought it was quite interesting. It gives you a lot to think about:

We went to a little temple just outside the big one and Maya got her "one red dot ". Then we tried the fresh coconut water:

  

We drove further down the hill and saw a huge monolithic ( carved from one piece of rock) carving of Nandi, the bull. The bull is the vehicle of Lord Vishnu. The statue is 15 ft high and 24 feet in width It is very beautiful to see.

Next we visited the Mysore Palace. Our first palace visit of the trip. The first palace was built in the 14th century but the current one standing was done in 1897. The palace is now the 2nd in fame to the Taj Mahal. One of the Maharaja of the Palace was the first to bring electricity to the area and at night the palace is lite up  with over 100,000 lights and is breathtaking. See the photos below for day shots and at night.

We also visited friends and family today. Did some looking in some or the Mysore Silk shops. The different types of silk are so wonderful to touch. The patterns and colors are so vibrant.  We topped by the Indus =-American Ayurvedic Center, tit draws people fro all over the world. It was such a calm and peaceful spot, It is definitely worth coming back to. The also have healing therapies for many different types of ailments.It was a very long day and we have another one tomorrow.

       Here I am feverishly checking e-mails, keeping up with my family and posting pics on the blog between visits. This was a really nice Internet Italian cafe that caters to foreigners.

Tomorrow we are off to Delhi and than onto the Palace on Wheels! Cannot wait.

Downtown Mysore

Posting on the run today, sorry for any misspellings or incorrect sentences. It is what it is!

Today my mother took us all over Mysore to visiti tall her old haunts as a child. The compound where she grew up is now a 3 floor department store. I remember coming to the compound as a child. It had beautiful gardens in the front and a huge house set way back centered around an open-air courtyard. There was a tall guava tree on the side that I used to climb with my cousins and jasmine bushes lined the walls. At night time the buds would open and it would smell wonderful. It was a little sad to see the huge store built on that spot.

On the street next door all the vegetable and flower vendors still had carts. May got yet another flower for her hair! and we walked around in the smaller stores.

You can get fresh sugar cane juice from the many street vendors. It si fun to watch them pressing it and it tastes great.

Maya couldn't believe this cow walking across the street in the middle of traffic. It was amazing he didn't get hit! The vehicles are zooming by him.

There are many temples that my mother remembers visiting  growing up. They used to be open all the time but now they are just open early in the AM and in the evening. We will be coming back to a few to visit.

On the way back to the hotel we saw some fun things. It was Saturday, so we caught some women washing clothes in the river:

 These are rice patty fields. There are acres and acres of the rice patties on the long drive back.

Everything seems to be full of color in India even the trucks! The are called "Lorries"

Back at the hotel we went to the Kauvery Temple and performed a Pooja with the priest. A pooja is worship to the Deities of the Hindu Religion in the form of prayer, offerings and sacrifices...

They are done in a fixed, ritualistic pattern, by celebrating in praise and offerings to Lord Ganesh, the Divine Mother, Lord Shiva, the Nine Planets, Kalsa (representing the Universe), and Mother Lakshmi.
During a Pooja, offerings are made to the fire (Agni devta), which is viewed as the mouth of the Divine – it is the actual feeding of the God. During a Pooja, sixteen prescribed steps occur (symbolic of the sixteen ceremonies to be completed in the life span of a Hindu) including the welcoming of the Deity, giving the Deity a place to sit, the washing of the feet, decorating the Deity, and the offering of food items, clothing or money to seek blessings. Fresh, sweet-scented flowers along with specific herbs and plants are used, as well as Jhal/Phaag (a combination of milk, ghee, honey and spices).  The priest is in Orange.

Maya and my mother with their red dot after the pooja ceremony

While walking the gardens at the hotel we got to see a tribe of lambani's! They are nomadic people from the Indian state of Rajasthan and  North-West Gujarat. Women are known to wear colorful and beautiful costumes and the men wear Dhoti and Kurta (short with many folds). These clothes were designed specially for the protection from harsh climate in deserts and to distinguish them from others. I took a ton of pictures,and here are just two to give you a sneak peak. My mother was surprised to see them this far south!

Mysore & Brindavan Gardens

After a 3 hour ride to Mysore we arrived at yet another relations house for lunch,chatting and coffee. My parents caught up on gossip and family while Mya and I toured the compound and hung outside.

During the drive we saw some fun things:

There were a lot of bullock carts you don’t want to get stuck behind one!

Pay and Use toilets, which we have not yet had to use, thank goodness

Cows, just hanging out walking wherever they would like. Cows are sacred in India since they  can provide so much for a family. Because of this they have the right of way!

Here is another street vendor selling all sorts of fruits

We stopped at St Philamina Church, which holds a relic from Saint Peter.It was originally built in 1843 but  was refurbished in 1933. For all you Catholics I did a little research from Wikepedia znd came up with this:

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 remains of a teenage girl no older than 14 were discovered on May 24, 1802 in the Catacombs of Saint Priscilla at the Via Salaria in Rome. Accompanying these remains were a set of tiles bearing a fragmented inscription containing the words LUMENA PAXTE CUMFI, words of no known meaning in any language. The letters were rearranged to read PAX TECUM FILUMENA, which in Latin translates to Peace with you, Filumena.^[2]Various vessels, including one allegedly containing blood, were also found in the tomb. From these discoveries, it was concluded that a Christiannamed Filumena (Philomena) was buried in the tomb and the vessel containing blood was thought to be her relic, an evidence of a martyr's death.

On lighter note, we drove by a Bollywood movie being filmed on location. The crowds were beginning to gather and the music was blasting. The crowds were flocking to the set.

While visiting my aunts house we took a picture of a typical Indian kitchen. 

This is fresh tamarind and chilies that she has srt out to dry in the sum. The meals are made with the freshest vegtables and along with the spices are very tasty. 

At the front every Indian house, every morning a design is drawn in chalk. This is to wish good luck on the house, occupants and ward off evil spirits. The artwork is called Rangoli. This is a simple everyday design, sometimes you see them made with brightly colored fours of turmeric and vermillion

Finally we made it to Brindavan Gardens. The  is world famous for its symmetric design. It is one of the most beautifully laid out terrace gardens in the world.  Modeled on the design of the Shalimar Gardens of Kashmir in the Mughal style, the garden  has a number of terraces,fountains, running and cascading waterchannels, water chutes, lush green lawns, flower beds, shrubs and trees. Today, the Brindavan Gardens is world famous for its beauty illumination of a musical fountain. There is also a huge dam that is built across the River Kaveri. The river is one of the major rivers in India and considered very sacred by Hindus.

The hotel rooms were beautiful, Maya especially liked the mosquito nets!

There are stools made out of giraffe skin in the hotel!

Here is a picture of My father and I enjoying a drink on the veranda. It was a drink we both needed!

My internet connection is spotty at the hotel, so some of my post may be later than usual. Please bear with me. Next week when we leave for our train trip, there in not any WIFI on the train. I will have to try and get on line at lunch time at the hotels we lunch at. Until the next time, I will leave you with a picture of one of the many temples that are seen by the roadside everywhere you go. 

Rickshaw Ride!

MAYA: We were finally brave enough to get a rickshaw and go into town for some errands and shopping.It was kinda scary and very fast. The rickshaw goes in and out of traffic without stopping. I sat between my mom and grandmother. They were afraid I would fall out!

The ride cost us 40 rupees. A rupee is the Indian money, and the bills are larger than a dollar. 1 American Dollar equals 45 rupees. They have 1,2,3 rupee coins and then they are all bills. My grandmother complains that everything seems to be costing close to 500 rupees which is 11 dollars. She says the money goes out like water because it doesn’t seem real.

Here is a picture of our driver.

My grandfather told me that when my mom was about 16 and in India, she measured the dimensions of a rickshaw! She wanted to ship one home so she could drive it around! I think it would be fun to have one in New London in the summer time. 

We had to go through a security check to get into the mall. There are guards and policemen everywhere.

We ate at an American restaurant today called Au Bon Pain. The sign said they are in New York, Boston and the big cities in the USA. The menu was all Indian food. My mom had a Tandoori Chicken panini. She said it was so good. I had a Chicken Curry rice bowl and it was very good. I like all the spices in the food.We thought it was funny that they were selling “french cupcakes”. They were 30 rupees or 66 cents! Not as good as my dads cupcakes. he should sell them here.

Tomorrow we are driving to Mysore. It is another place in South India. This is where my grandmother is from. We will have to visit some more and then she said we will see some cool things. It is not as crowded as Bangalore and we can take more rickshaw rides. Mysore is the one with the circle. It is further south so my mom said it will be even warmer. Every day is like 85 degrees right now. It will be a 3-4 hour drive. 

Visiting Day

Today we were scheduled to visit 3 sets of relatives ( I have a lot of relatives, so it was a relief that it was ONLY 3!). The day went really well and Maya was able to see inside 3 different types of homes and meet all kinds of aunts, uncles, grand aunts, great grand aunts & uncles.

First stop was to my mothers favorite aunt( my grand aunt & Maya’s great grand aunt)

We had a traditional home-cooked meal that was delicious and light. Exactly what we needed. My uncle from Maryland happened to be there, so that was an extra special treat. It was very nice to see my mom and dad catch-up , gossip about old times and reminisce about the “old” India. 

Here is a picture of 4 generations:

Next up, was a visit to my mother’s childhood friend, Suddha. She was a highly respected schoolteacher in Bangalore.Now she runs a summer camp in her home for about 30 children. She is an amazing woman. She has MS and is confined to a wheelchair but is very active with the children. The house is set up with ramps everywhere.

Maya was able to see pomegranate,mango,guava and coconut trees in her compound. Here are some pictures from the visit:

Below, is one of Suddha's cooks shelling feash peas for the evening meal. I wish she could come home with me!

Lastly, we visited my mother’s oldest sister and my favorite aunt, Punkaja. She is an accomplished  and highly decorated writer in India. Punkaja has won several national awards and honors. Everywhere she goes, people recognize her for her accomplishments.She has also had 4-5 books made in to Bollywood movies! Punkaja-auntie is a real treat to talk to and be around. She is interested in everything detail of life. Many of her nieces, nephews, grand children are all mentioned somewhere in her books. She has a heroine named Nina and promised to put Maya in her next book! I absolutely love her.

Another secret about her is that she has a gift to read palms,energies and auras. She sat with Maya and did this. Many of the insights she had were spot on. She told Maya several things about her future and it will be interesting to see if they come true! Here are some pictures of my famous aunt:

My dad had a great day visiting everyone, he was in a great mood!