Memories from the City of Palaces

I had always wanted to scribble about my earlier visit to Mysore but was wondering if it is too late and that I may not remember much of stuff to be put into a reasonable blog.  However, things fell into place and my memories refreshed when I came to read today about the cursed royalty of Mysore kingdom (Courtesy - DC's today's supplement). Coincidentally, this day, exactly two years back, was my unforgettable trip to Mysore. So there is a reason for blogging, atleast not a too bad reason to not blog about it :P.

Wandering around the city for two days, I was totally impressed by the tranquility of the City of Palaces and its greenery while getting a glimpse into its beauty. Not to mention, drizzling turned the city a lot more dazzling. Hmmm.. if only this hot Chennai had more trees :(. Back to flashback.  During the visit, I heard from an acquaintance about the curse that the Mysore kings had succumbed to and the kingdom still giving in to it. Here it goes.. (part of this history excerpted from today's DC)...

Raja Wodeyar who ruled Mysore during the 16th Century conquered the fort of Srirangapatna from the then Viceroy of Vijayanagar - Tirumala. Shortly after Tirumala's death, Alamelamma, his wife had safeguarded a collection of magnificient jewellery with which she adorned the idol of Sri Ranganayaki, every Tuesday and Friday. When she was commanded to surrender the valuables to the king Raja Wodeyar, she not only denied but to escape from the king's rage, fell into the river Cauvery with the jewels, after uttering a curse that the Rajas of Mysore would never have their progeny until eternity.

Through my trip, I learnt, history has proven that the curse has turned out true. The successive rulers of Raja Wodeyar have all been adopted (excepting Narasaraja Wodeyar II). Much to my astonishment, I had heard that the adopted rulers have always had offsprings as they are not from the direct lines and then as the curse plays its role promptly, these offsprings would never have their heirs. The story iterates. That was the first time I came to know of a (hi)story on a curse (and that it turned out to be reality) and it made me marvel, how powerful words could be!! Or rather, is it just a coincidence?! I don't think so. Apparently, even the Royal Highness couldn't get away from a harsh curse.

As it would always happen, my mind did a quick Ctrl + F in my brain's memory unit to cross-check if I had cursed anyone, knowingly or unknowingly. And it turns out that, neither am I Alamelamma and I hope, nor would my curses come true, if at all there was any :P.  A serious and quite a lengthy writing on curses and enough on this subject. Other places we visited were the Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary, Nanjudeshwarar temple, Chamundi Hills and the most exotic Balmuri. We also visited yet another Shiva temple and sought the Lord's blessings. Also etched in my mind is the amazingly beautiful place we got to stay and the fun we had had while gulping all hot food out of hunger. I miss it, for sure :|

Moving on to one another memorable experience. The guide who accompanied us in the mysore palace showed us the 'infinite mirrors'. Interestingly, none of us identified that those were brilliant infinite-mirrors until the guide had actually mentioned it. All that we (including the boys in our group) had done was to stare at our own faces in the mirror and admire if we were looking good or bad or so tired or dull. Upon realising what we had all done in common, there was a hearty laugh amongst us :D. It seems nothing is as admirable as one's own face, we conversed. And that makes a laughable end to this post, I hope!