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.