Mysore's Finest, Part 1

Today we explored Mysore with Ani. We started the day with some serious stair climbing, 1000 steps up Chamundi Hill. You can see all of Mysore from near the top, visit the Temple of Chamund, and see the statue of the demon, Mahishasura. Myth says that Chamund killed the demon to save the city. Oddly enough, the city is named after the demon - not its killer? We drank fresh coconut juice and ate some tender coconut flesh as a reward. It was a good way to wake us up and start the morning!

After a well deserved breakfast, we drove out 30km to the Kesava Temple. The temple dates back to the 13th century and is in the Hoysala style of architecture. It looks like a scene from Legends of the Hidden Temple! The colonnade consisted of 64 small shrines to various gods. The temple was covered in carvings of the gods, numerous animals, and celebratory scenes. Inside the temple were 3 shrines honoring Kesava, Vishnu, and Mahishasura. Surprisingly, the style used lots of sharp corners and pointy shapes. Unfortunately there were several massive groups visiting at the same time, which made it hard to walk around and take pictures.

The next stop was the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary. It's along the Kauvery River and home to numerous species of migratory birds, as well as marsh crocodiles. We took a short boat ride and saw storks, comorants, bats, a darter, ibises, lots of pelicans, and many sunbathing crocs. On the nature walk, we saw a hornbill and a few species of finches that we didn't know the names of. It was a peaceful and beautiful to see, a bird watchers paradiseRead more