Around Mysore

I began the morning with an hour of quiet contemplation at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary. I would not have approached the water so close had I known about the marsh crocodiles. It is a danger not highlighted to the tourists.

Srirangapatna is the next stop. The Gopuram was scaffolded for renovation and I saved time as I did not have to photograph it. The temple bears the weight of 1000 plus years. I mean this in a nice way, when I say that the temple appears to have been modelled from a freehand sketch of a child. There is very little sense of symmetry or proportion. Vishnu lies supine on the folds of the Adisesha, the serpent; it is a striking image but much smaller than at Thiruvananthapuram. Srirangapatna temple is the first of the trinity of holy Vaishnavite shrines stretched out along the Cauvery and attracts many pilgrims from North India. A beautiful Marwari woman in a flaming red saree strayed into the frame of my camera.

The summer palace of Tipu Sultan is soaked in history and it is worth spending a leisurely hour admiring the large murals and the aquatints. At the end a kind of melancholy crept over me. Tipu Sultan comes across as a brave and generous person who died too young at the hands of British soldiers. 

About a mile away from the palace is the mausoleum, known as Gumbaz where Tipu is buried along with his father Hyder Ali and mother. The place is run over by tourists scarcely observing the sanctity of a final resting place. 

Close to the Gumbaz is the Sangam of Cauvery and Kapila, with the typical dirt and squalor of any Hindu religious place. People go on a coracle ride and the boatman gives an extra swirl of the flimsy wicker basket boat. Go only if you can swim in the swift currents. And not far from the Sangam, on the banks of Cauvery is the quaint Nimishamba Temple, with the Goddess reportedly having the power to clear obstacles within a Nimisha (minute). 

On the way from Srirangapatna to Somnathpura I discovered Hotel Mayur River View operated by Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation. Located alongside Cauvery, it has an al fresco restaurant with an ambience that has to be among the best in the country. Driver and I had a hearty meal for Rs 205. Under a giant old tree, a cool breeze wafting across the gurgling Cauvery, who really cares for food? Casting a wistful look at the river, the driver told me – al this water will go to Tamil Nadu. It was an unprovoked politically loaded utterance. 

The road to Somnathpura cuts through some exquisitely green countryside. The 13^th C Chennakesava Temple is the epitome of perfection. I try hard to shut out the guide’s banal commentary – “Parvati is the wife of Shiva and Lakshmi is the wife of Vishnu”. And the old Bengali tourist pops the question – how much did it cost to construct the temple? The guide is left nonplussed. I want to capture every piece of sculpture in my camera; the attention to details is staggering. Dusk is approaching and it is hard to wrench myself away from this architectural masterpiece of Hoysala dynasty.