DEVARAJA MARKET, MYSORE

                   If you are new to the bazaars of India in general, do not miss Devaraja Market. This is a good sample of a traditional Indian market place that are  colorful, noisy, vibrant and a tad chaotic.The conservative estimates put the age of the Devaraja market about 120 years. The original market place could be much older, as old at the origin of this city as settlement. The place were people lived in this part of Mysore was called Devaraja Mohalla, named afer one of the two successive maharajas shared the same name - Dodda DevarajaWodeyar (1659-1673) and Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar (1673-1704)).

                  There was a small weekly market at the corner of this mohalla (village). Later during the regime of  Chamaraja Wodeyar IX (1868 – 1894) this weekly market was expanded into the present form. The market retained the name that is associated with the village. The road that runs through this erstwhile village is Devaraj Urs Road.

THE JAGANMOHAN PALACE,MYSORE

The Jaganmohan Palace was constructed in 1861 by the king, His Highness Krishnaraja Wodeyar III as an alternate retreat for the royal family. The Mysore Palace, which was the original home of the royal family was burnt down in a fire and the construction of a new palace in its place was started in 1897. Till the new palace was completed in 1912, the Jaganmohan Palace was used by the royals as their home. In 1902, the king His Highness Rajarshi Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar was installed to the Mysore throne, in a ceremony that took place in a pavilion inside the Jaganmohan Palace. This ceremony was attended by Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India. The palace was used for his daily durbar by the king and also the special Dasara durbar during the dasara period. In 1915, the palace was converted into an art gallery, which was later renamed in 1955 in the name of HH Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, as the Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery . The early convocations of the Mysore University were also held in this palace. The first session of the Legislative Council of the Mysore state was held here in July 1907. The Legislative Council was then called as the Representative Council and was presided over by the Diwan (Prime Minister of the state). HH Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar converted the palace into a trust and opened it for public viewing.

The palace is built in traditional Hindu style and has three stories. In 1900, an external facade with a hall behind it was added to the palace. This facade has three entrances and the entablature has religious motifs and miniature temples crafted on it. The walls of the interiors are painted with murals. These mural paintings which follow the traditional style of the Mysore school of painting depict the Dasara scene and the canvas depicting the sequence of the Jumboo Savari stretches across three walls. This mural is the earliest known picture of the Mysore Dasara and has been painted using vegetable dyes. A family tree of the Wodeyars tracing the lineage of the royal family is also painted on a wall.

The art gallery contains one of the largest collections of artefacts in South India. Most of these artefacts are paintings, prominent among which are those by Raja Ravi Varma, some of which demonstrate scenes from the Hindu epics, Ramayana and Mahabharatha. The collection of paintings in the gallery exceed 2000 in number and these belong to different Indian styles of painting like Mysore, Mughal and Shantiniketan. 16 paintings of Raja Ravi Varma were donated to the gallery by Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar. Another important painting present here is the Lady with the lamp which was painted by the artist Haldenkar and is placed in a dark room where it is the only exhibit. This is to give an illusion that the glow of the lamp is illuminating the face of the woman. Some other painters whose works are exhibited here include Nikolai Roerich, Svetoslav Roerich and Rabindranath Tagore and Abanindranath Tagore. There are beautiful paintings by the Ukil brothers -Sharada Ukil, Ranada Ukil and Barada Ukil. Another collection of paintings by a British Army Officer named Col. Scot on the wars between Tipu Sultan and the British army are said to be the only visual representation of the wars.

Other exhibits here include weapons of war, musical instruments, sculptures, brassware, antiques coins and currencies. Some other unique artefacts exhibited here is a French clock which has a mechanism in which a parade by miniature soldiers is displayed every hour; beating drums mark the seconds and a bugle marks the minute. Paintings made on a grain of rice which can be viewed only through a magnifier are also displayed here.

CHAMUNDI HILLS,MYSORE

Chamundi Hills  is located 13 km east of Mysore, the Palace City, in Karnataka, India. Its average elevation is 1,000 metres (3,300 ft).

Named after goddess Chamunda, the Chamundeshwari Temple sits atop the main hill. The main hill itself features an ancient stone stairway of 1,008 steps leading to its summit. Approximately halfway to the summit is statue of bull Nandi, the vahana, or "vehicle" of Lord Shiva, which is 4.9m tall and 7.6m long and carved out of a single piece of black granite. Around this point, the steps become significantly less steep and eventually the climber is rewarded with a panoramic view of the city.

According to a legend, the asura Mahishasura (king of the city that is currently known as Mysore) was killed by goddess Chamundeswari (also called Chamundi) after a fierce battle. The goddess is also called Mahishasura Mardini.

According to mythology, this rocky hill was known as Mahabalachala. Two ancient temples occupy the hill, the Mahabaleshvara and the Chamundeshvari; the Mahabaleshvara Temple on the hill is the older of the two and is a place of pilgrimage. The car festival and 'Teppotsava' are held there.

DUFFERIN CLOCK, MYSORE

        Dufferin Clock Tower is a heritage structure in Mysore.

        Located at the end of Devaraja Market , adducent to the KR Circle.

       This clock tower was commissioned in honor

        of the then British Viceroy of India,  Lord Dufferin.

 He was the first Viceroy of the colonial

India to pay a ceremonial and friendly state visit to the invitation of the Maharaja of Mysore   Chamaraja Wodeyar X  in 1886. ( though officially Lord Lytton visited Mysore some 10 years back, but on connection with the famine that plagued south India). 

Lord Dufferin was succeeded by the Viceroy of India (1884–1888) during the colonial period

MYSORE PALACE 1897

The original palace built of wood, got burnt down in 1897, during the wedding of
 Jayalakshammanni, the eldest daughter of Chamaraja Wodeyar

 and was rebuilt in 1912 at the cost of Rs. 42 lakhs

It was the seat of Power for Krishna Raja Wodeyar the third who ruled from 1799 until 1868. The design, typical of Hindu architecture, uses a simple column-and-beam structure. The columns however, were elaborately carved in the style commonly found in Mughal, or Persian, courts. The ground floor an open common space, was where the family members could move freely. It is sometimes referred to as the children’s gallery, perhaps because this is where they could run around and play.

               

King Yaduraya first built a palace inside the Old Fort in Mysore in the 14th century, which was demolished and constructed multiple times. The regent of Mysore, Her Majesty Maharani Vani Vilas Sannidhna, and her son, the Maharaja of Mysore His Highness Rajarshi Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, commissioned the British architect Lord Henry Irwin to build a new palace to replace the old one which had been turned into ashes by fire. Meanwhile, the royal family stayed in the nearby Jaganmohan Palace.

 Construction of the current palace was commissioned in 1897, completed in 1912, and expanded around 1940 (including the addition of the present Public Durbar Hall wing) during the reign of His Highness Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, the last Maharaja of Mysore Kingdom. The construction was completed in 1912