(Floody) Mysore Dasara

Time: Oct 15th - 17th, 2021

Place: Mysore

Company: Wife & Daughter

Highlights: Well, Paavani had a week-long break and I always want to make best utilization of such breaks especially since even I had a long weekend. What better way to utilize than for what the holidays is given for? Dasara festival! The heart of Dasara is Mysore, so we thought we might as well go to Mysore. Would be a great cultural experience for Paavani. My mom told that I had been to Dasara fest in Mysore before & my wife had been to but I don't remember a thing. So, booked the rental car & the hotel rooms only the day before. Kind of lucky to get the room considering how crowded Mysore would be. But fate had it's own say...

Day 1: Had ordered for car delivery at home by 8:30 am (vroom), and it was bang on time. Car was good. We left around 10-ish, had breakfast at a nearby fast-food and then drove all the way non-stop to Mysore.  Reached about 3-ish. Thankfully no car-sickness episodes like the Madikeri trip although route started off same for both. 

Upon entering Mysore, the scale of grandeur of the festivities greeted us with lights adorned every street. We made our way to the palace but there was so much crowd, so many roads cordoned off, people walking everywhere that we couldn't follow GPS anymore nor was GPS able to guide us ably. We were driving blind. We asked a couple of traffic policemen for the palace, and they directed us to a common parking lot which we just couldn't find. Finally, we came across one public parking spot and were lucky enough to squeeze through it to get one spot only to realize that the parking lot was for the zoo, since we were right opposite it!

Our initial plan was to visit the palace and tackle the zoo next day but since we were right there, we thought we might as well finish the zoo. Entered about 3 pm and it took full 3 hours for us to go through the zoo. It is really vast with all kinds of creatures. W & D really enjoyed a lot. Had some light refreshments and the majestic giraffes at the exit bade us good bye.

Since it was dusk now, we thought we will drive towards the palace to see it in lights. However, the crowd, the traffic, the one-ways, etc. all made it outright impossible. Next best was to park somewhere and walk towards the palace but there was no place to park either. Added to that, it started raining. And it was no ordinary rain - it was like boulders of water gushing out from everywhere with very less visibility. We parked at road-side for rain to subside, and munched some snacks to pass time. But the rain didn't subside, and in fact there was now water all over the roads. So we thought before we get stuck in floods, we might as well go to our hotel which seemed to be close by anyways. 

But that was tricky too. We drove for 10 mins and the roads were now 1-2 ft filled with flowing water. So we stopped again along with other cars & blinking lights. After 10 more minutes, the rain seemed to subside, so we started off again towards the hotel. And then we came to a section of the road which was like a U-shaped meaning started from an elevation, went down the slope and again climbed back up. Now the problem was the lower part of that U was filled with fast gushing water, apparently from a lake which was overflowing due to the rain. We were right at the bottom when there was a traffic jam. Water level is increasing and current is fast and vehicles are not moving forward, it was one tense moment. Thankfully, it moved ahead and we went up the slope and we were out of danger. But the night was not yet over.

We reached the hotel and the parking lot was at a slightly lower basement. I was about to head into that when wife cautioned me, so parked on road-side. SO grateful since, within a few minutes, those cars parked inside got submerged as the water entered the parking lot and there was nowhere for the water to exit, and it became a small pond. Bikes inside the lot completely got submerged as well. It would have been a tremendous damage if I had not stopped at all those places and gotten early, I would have parked inside the lot (since at that time the rain was not so heavy) and I would have literally financially & logistically be doomed! 

Anyways, with flood-like situation outside, I thought at least once we check-in, we would be safe indoors. Alas, the receptionist said that the management had changed recently and the hotel shown online does not belong, and hence no rooms available right now. Which meant, we had nowhere to go since whole Mysore was booked out. And it was already 11 pm. Due to the downpour, the receptionist allowed us to stay in the reception until rain subsided. Meanwhile, a crane had come to dig up the gutter to make way for the water gushing out everywhere. Several households in the neighbour were inundated. Some compound walls had given away and water had gushed inside homes. 

Meanwhile, we hadn't had dinner, we didn't have a place to go and even if we did, roads were logged with water. We were stuck literally outdoors. Our last resort was to stay in the car itself and spend the night. Couple of phone calls to hotels didn't yield any luck. All rooms were booked - it being Dasara and a weekend. Finally caught hold of one hotel near Railway station. They were charging two thousand. It was a small room, space enough only for a cot, and a dirty little bathroom in a very-sidey looking neighbourhood. But the owner was very good. We took it since we badly needed a place to sleep. And, boy, were we glad that we barely managed to escape the wrath of the floods...

Day 2: After about 7 hrs of sleep, we departed soon enough at about 9 am. Had sumptuous breakfast at Adyar Anand Bhavan just beside Railway Station. It was extremely crowded and self-service was tough. Breakfast done, we headed to the Mysore Palace. I was surprised at the crowd - way too much! The place for leaving footwear was unbelievably crowded - people were shouting, temper was rising, totally mismanaged and all blame to the administration. There could have been definitely a better way to manage it. People started leaving footwear where they wanted after being tired up being pushed and shoved everywhere, definitely not a place for the female populace.

The crowd was neck to neck even inside the palace despite it being Covid times. It was the first time in several months that we were in such a crowd after Covid started. Hardly any social distance. But getting back to the Palace - it was wonderful. Just like all those palaces which we saw in France and Rajasthan. The last time I was inside was when I was just about same as my daughter's age - about 10 or 11. I still remember the line being empty and I was running farther and further, and here I was going step after step with nowhere to go nor breathe! The interiors, the views from balcony, the throne were all the same and kept intact.

After about couple of hours, we were back out. Visited couple of temples (inside Palace premises, which is great), we left towards Chamundi hills. On the way, we saw Kamat and had nice North Karnataka lunch. That done, we climbed the Chamundi, and it was a nice drive up the hill with not much winding roads. In fact, we didn't even feel as if we were climbing a hill. Once atop, I was astounded to see a multi-storey parking lot! I didn't know so many people visited here.

After about a short distance walk to the temple entrance, I was even more astounded to see the crowd! It was overflowing with people everywhere. Blame it all on Dasara vacation, and people from all neighbouring cities and towns had poured into Mysore. We took special entrance just so that we can get it done quickly and don't get exposed to too many people in the crowd. But even with special entrance, the pushing and shoving existed albeit for a quick 15 minutes! Had a nice darshan of Chamundeshwari, and then we took some snaps of the landscape.

Back in the car, drove down to Nandi scenic spot. Quick stop, few pics taken and we were ready for next stop: Sadhguru's enlightenment spot. Realized we passed it but could not go back since it was one-way. Also realized that we did not see Mahishasura statue atop Chamundi. So, in search of road back to top, we actually drove down the hill all the way to the bottom, and then climbed it from the other side! It was actually funny that we climbed the same hill twice on a same day within such a short span of time - maybe the only family to do so! Again, went into the multi-storey parking lot and all just for posing a pic with Mahishasura! Also could not go to Sadhguru's enlightenment spot since it was off limits. Some folks asked us to stay off and we had to forego that, which was something we really wanted to see. Anyways.

We were done for the day although we wanted to see the Palace lights. We didn't want to risk another bout of 'floody rains', so thought we might as well get checked into our hotels. This hotel was at the outskirts of Mysore. Nice and clean and no risk of floods in the car park. There was a scheduled Sadhguru's Satsang and we attended that via our mobile itself. Ironically, it didn't rain that evening and the program was re-telecasted the next day. So we could have done the palace lights actually. Anyways, it was time for bed.

Day 3: This day's itinerary was simple - Srirangapatna temple, Ranganthittu and KRS dam. Our first stop was Srirangapatna bathing ghat. The Youth Brigade was constructing a dias in the middle of the river, apparently for the Cauvery river arathi scheduled that evening, on the lines of Ganga arathi conducted in Varanasi. Accompanied with Arathi, was the 'laksha deepa' (literally 1 lakh diyas). And as we were taking bath, a priest was conducting homa on the banks in front of the Ganesha idol. This homa also was a prequel to the evening arathi. Overall, the experience was deep and very spiritual. After bath, the priest asked us (along with many other visitors) to personally do abhisheka and arathi to Lord Ganesha idol, which we did. Felt very pure and pious. The priest also requested us to participate in the evening festivities (which was like once in a lifetime event for us). While we walked away from the ghats, we decided there and then that we might as well attend the Cauvery arathi instead of KRS dam which we could do any other day. 

Next stop was Srirangapatna temple. This temple always touches me. Not much crowd here, so darshan was quick and fast. But we spent quite some time sitting inside the premises. By now, it was already noon-plus. So, headed to a nearby lunch stop at Bangalore-Mysore highway. On the way, we saw Tipu's Death place and then came across Jamia Masjid. We thought we might as well visit it, so went inside. Not much to see, so we just roamed around. We even went up the stairs and took in the grand view of everything around us. Our next stop was lunch at Aduge Mane Restaurant. Food was just fine but very spicy, which I guess is how it is everywhere these days.

Next we headed to Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary. It had been more than 3 decades since I had last visited here, so hardly remember a thing. But Paavani loved it. The boating was the best part. The entire premises itself is very well-made and well kept. The tree houses, garden mazes, walking trails, short bridges (with see-through-flooring), gift shop, benches scattered everywhere - all of this make this place a very nice place to visit, and can easily spend 2-3 hours. 

Post this, we still had couple of hours before the evening arathi started, so we thought we might as well see couple of Srirangapatna's historical places. We ditched the fort and went to Daria Daulat Bagh but it was closed since I guess we were late. We then went to Gumbaz-e-Shahi. Nice landscaping & a small building commemorating Tipu's relatives. Finally, it was time for us to head back to the Bathing ghat. 

Needless to say, there were lot of people. Also, the steps were covered with diyas, and hence space was less. But arrangements were all very well made and complete. We sat where we could. Soon enough (thankfully) the program began. Invocation, speeches by dignitaries, etc. all got done quickly and since some of the pilgrims started lighting up the diyas, the volunteers asked all the diyas to be lit else it would not have looked good. So, within a few minutes everyone participated and we lit all the diyas. And then the arathi began too. It was wonderful to see the respect bestowed upon Mother Cauvery. The Youth Brigade had done a lot prior to this (especially cleaning the river banks from irresponsible pilgrims left-overs) and the guest of honor commended them all. By 7:30 pm, the arathi came to a closure, and we rushed home since we knew it would take a long drive.

And a long drive it was - close to 4 hrs despite being 130+ kms. By the time we reached home it was midnight thanks to a lot of construction underway on the BLR-MYS highway. Road-widening I guess. It was a short and quick dinner at Kamat midway, but otherwise uneventful. Upon reaching home, had a little bit of tug-of-war with the guy who came for rental car pickup and hence had to again drive out a few kms at 1 am. Finally, got back home and retired for the night.

Overview: And thus ended our trip which turned out to be a close-shave for a flood adventure. My first time for a live show of vehicles getting drowned. The force of current while we were in the middle of the road filled with water also was scary especially since we were sitting ducks. At one point, in Mysore I even contemplated returning back to BLR on day 1 night itself considering we did not have a place to stay and the 'more rain' warning continued to flash on weather app. But kind of lucky that we got at least one hotel room & we stayed put with the itinerary. A week later, the road on the Chamundi Hill towards Nandi collapsed and it was barricaded. We were very fortunate to have survived the floods and very lucky to get to see the Cauvery arathi. However, we had intended to finish the KRS Dam and Mysore Palace lights as part of this trip but it was not meant to be, so another trip to MYS beckons...until then, signing off! 

PS: Forgot to mention....Aah, the lush greenery of the fertile river banks of Mother Cauvery!