Sunday, October 31, 2010

ಮೈಸೂರು ದಸರ - 2010

I used to force my father to accompany me to the famous Dasara procession which is held in Mysore every year. After years of requests , this year I was granted :) So we took off to see the famous AMBARI .

The Team :
1. Mr. Gowrishankar ( my father )
2. Mr. Suresh (my uncle)
3. Myself

Our first visit was to Nanjangud :
Nanjangud (Kannada ನಂಜನಗೂಡು) is a town in Mysore district in the Indian state ofKarnataka. It is a temple town and is on the banks of the river Kapila (Kabini), and lies at a distance of 23 km from the city of Mysore. Nanjangud is also called as "Dakshina Kashi" (southern Kashi)

Origin of the name

The main temple at Nanjangud is dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva, also called Sri Nanjundeshwara, "The God who drank poison" . In Hindu mythology, the Gods and demons churned the ocean in search of the ambrosia. During this churning, poison emanated first, followed by ambrosia. To prevent the poison from spreading across the universe and to destroy it, Shiva came to the rescue and drank it up. His wife Parvati then held his throat tightly to prevent the poison from spreading to the rest of his body and killing him. Narada held his mouth so that he did not vomit it out. The poison remained in his throat, making it blue in colour. For this reason, Shiva is also called Neelakantha, or "the blue-thorated one". Nanjanagud literally means "the place where Nanjundeshwara resides.


Nanjangud has been a major Shaiva centre for nearly a thousand years. It is the biggest temple in Karnataka. The original Nanjundeshwaraa temple is said to be of Ganga period (325 - 1000 CE). This temple has then been renovated by the Hoysala kings. Both Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan had close associations with this temple. The Wodeyar kings of Mysore made various grants to renovate the temple.
 Getting There

 By Road

From the state capital Bangalore, one can take the State Highway 17 which goes to Mysore and then onwards to Nanjangud. The total distance from Bangalore to Nanjangud is around 163 km. Another route is about 30 km from Mysore, which takes 30 minutes by road.

[edit] By Rail

Nanjangud has a railway station with broad gauge line (the standard gauge followed by Indian Railways) which runs from Mysore to Nanjangud. Mysore being an important location is well connected by rail to major cities in India and hence passengers can stop over at Mysore and take another train to reach Nanjangud. There is also a proposal to connect the railway line at Chamarajanagar to the railway line at Mettupalayam in Tamil Nadu which will provide connectivity between Nanjangud and other cities in south India.
The gauge conversion of the railway track from Mysore to Chamarajanagar has been completed.

 By air

The nearest airport is the one at Bangalore. Alternatively one can use the airports at Coimbatore or Calicut for reaching Nanjangud. However, the airport at Mysore is being upgraded which can then be used to reach Nanjangud.


Nestle India Ltd
AT&S India Pvt Ltd.
TVS Motor Company
Bannari Amman Sugars Ltd
South India Paper Mills
S Kumars Reid & Taylor
Raman Boards
Jubilant Organosys
Brakes (India)
Bacardi RUM

Krishna Raja Sagar : Then  me moved to see the famous KRS dam which is built on the river Kaveri. The famous Brindavan gardens are located here.
Krishna Raja Sagara (Kannada: ಕೃಷ್ಣರಾಜಸಾಗರ), also popularly known as KRS (ಕೆ.ಆರ್.ಎಸ್.), is the name of both a lake and the dam that causes it. For information about the settlement near the dam and reservoir, see Krishnarajasagara. The dam is across Kaveri River, in Mandya District near Mysore in Karnataka state, India. There is an ornamental garden attached to the dam, called Brindavan Gardens.
The Dam
The dam was built across river Kaveri, the life giving river for the Mysore and Mandya districts, in 1924[1]. Apart from being the main source of water for irrigation in the most fertile Mysore and Mandya , the reservoir is the main source of drinking water for almost the whole of Bangalore city, the capital of the state of Karnataka. The water released from this dam is further used as an important source of water in the state of Tamil Nadu, which has its own Mettur dam in the Mettur district. Sir. Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya served as the chief engineer during the construction of this dam. The dam is named for the then ruler of the Mysore Kingdom, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV
The Brindavan Gardens


The Krishnarajasagara dam was constructed under the guidance of Sir Mirza Ismail, the Dewan (chief financial officer) of Mysore. As a part of beautification of the dam site, Sir Mirza Ismail conceived a plan of developing a garden in Mughal style with a design similar to that of Shalimar Gardens in Kashmir. The work on this garden was started in 1927. It was constructed in a terraced fashion and named Krishnarajendra Terrace Garden. The main architect for the park was G.H. Krumbigal, then Superintendent of Parks and Gardens of the Mysore Government

After KRS, we went to Mysore to view the famous Dasara procession.



Before the Ambari come, many tableaux of different districts of Karnataka go through the royal roads in the city.
Many folk dances and different music bands along with NCC students perform.
Another major attraction during Dasara is the Dasara exhibition which is held in the exhibition grounds opposite to the Mysore Palace. This exhibition starts during Dasara and goes on till December. Various stalls which sell items like clothes, plastic items, kitchenware, cosmetics and eatables are set up and they attract a significant number of people. A play area containing attractions like Ferris wheel is also present to provide entertainment to the people. Various Governmental agencies setup stalls to signify the achievements and projects that they have undertaken. Now-a-days youth Dasara is being held in Mysore, which is attracting large groups of youngsters from mysore as well as from all over karnataka.

Then comes the famous Ambari :  The Golden Howdah (elephant seat or Chinnada Ambari in Kannada) is a howdah, the carrier mounted on the lead elephant during the Jamboo Savari (Elephant Procession) of the famous Mysore Dasara. It is the cynosure of all eyes during the famous Dasara festivities.

The Howdah

The exact date of its making is not known. The 750-kg-howdah, used in the Jamboo Savari (elephant procession) on the Vijayadashami day, has two wide seats in rows, bigger than the interiors of a family car. The Rajas of Mysore used this howdah in the famous Dasara procession, which traversed through the thoroughfares of the princely city during the festival every year. But since the abolition of royalty the statue of Chamundeshwari is being carried in the howdah. The Howdah is made of Pure gold

Usually when the Ambari comes , it rains . This has happened from many years  and is still continuing. To our excitement, this time also it rained heavily as the Ambari left the palace.
After we saw the Ambari, we moved towards the Amba Vilas palace . The rains had stopped and a beautiful  rainbow was formed at the gate of the royal palace.

Mysore Palace :






Some of the more famous temples are:
  • Ambavilasa or Diwan e Khas.
  • Gombe Thotti (Doll’s Pavilion)
  • Kalyana Mantapa

 The statue Circle is also beautifully lit .
 Information Source : Wikipedia

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