Maharaja's Palace

We started the day by celebrating Christina’s birthday! The kids and I had gone to a nearby store to get a couple of small gifts, and we gave them to Christina first thing in the morning. I guess it’s true that it is the thought that counts because she was very happy with her gifts!

After a leisurely breakfast and some light reading, we hired a rickshaw to take us to the Maharaja’s Palace, which is one of the biggest attractions in Mysore. The entrance fee is 20 Rupees for Indians and 200 Rupees for foreigners. Ten times the price seems to be the norm for foreigners. The man at the ticket counter was not sure if I was Indian or not, but I couldn’t lie so we got 2 “foreigner” tickets, and the kids entered for free.

We found out two strange things right away: 1. You cannot take cameras inside the palace, and 2. You have to go in barefoot. So we deposited the camera and our shoes, got our audio guides and went in. They gave us 2 audio guides, with 4 headphones. So Yasmin and Roya shared one and Christina and I shared the other.
The palace had some fantastic artwork in it. The hall for special ceremonies had a beautiful stained-glass ceiling, with a peacock motif, brilliant colours and designs. It was quite beautiful. The main doors leading to the conference rooms were made of a dark wood with intricate designs inlaid with ivory. The curators had placed a clear fibreglass sheet over the work so it would not be damaged. The Maharaja had been an avid hunter and had collected several big game trophies, but had a change of heart, abandoned hunting and supported the wildlife fund.

The original palace was made of wood and burned down in 1897. Construction of this new palace started almost immediately and took 15 years to complete. By that time electricity had come to Mysore, so the royal family had electric lights right away. We wondered if they had black-outs at that time too!

After our tour of the palace we went for lunch to a place called Veg Kourt. They had very good food, and we asked them to give us a couple of curries for take-out so we can have them for dinner. We had a relaxing afternoon reading and playing Chinese checkers, and went downstairs to prepare our dinner. After dinner, we brought out the cake that I had ordered yesterday from the bakery across the street, and sang happy birthday to Christina.

NM