Posts Tagged ‘Night Walks’

Did you know that Dasara is a 600 year old living tradition?  It was first started by the Vijayanagara Kings in Hampi and later carried forward by the Kings of Mysore and this year is the 400th year of Mysore Dasara

From the 7^th to 17^th of October 2010 you will find the entire city in a festive mood. The Illuminated Palace with 97,000 bulbs would be the centre of the entire celebration.

Here are five new things that you could venture out this Dasara !!

Mysore Style Yoga: You find Mysore Style Yoga studios in New York, London, Paris or Milan. Ever wondered how did it spread to the west ? Here is your chance to experience Mysore Style Yoga and understand its positive effects on the body. In Mysore you can get to know the story of how this style started and why this city considered holy for Yogis which attracts close to 500 foreign nationals every month for Yoga practice. You have quite a few Yoga Shalas  to try out in Lakshmipuram and Gokulam

97,000 bulbs up there

Night Walks : Its time of the year when the entire city is decked up like a bride and the illumination makes it special. A Night Walking Tour where you get a feel this city,learn the Significance of Dasara, understand Mysore’s relevance in World History, Get to see one of India’s Oldest Secret Societies, Get to have Mysore Pak from the family that invented it and much more. Mysore was recently voted the second cleanest city in India. So its enjoyable Walking. Organised by Royal Mysore Walks Call # 96320 44188

Tradition Food: Mysore’s delicacies find their place in every Indian restaurant around the world. From the sweet named after the city,Mysore Pak to a Mysore Masala Dosa there is an entire gamut to choose from. When in Mysore try the local fare, From the delicious Masala Dosas in Mylari and GTR to tender meat at Mugal Durbar.

200 yr old Garadi Mane, A traditional Wrestling house !

Garadi Mane,Traditional Wrestling House: This city has always been famous for its traditional wrestling, also known as Kushti. You can visit century old Wrestling houses to watch the men in loin cloths practice before they work on pinning down their opponents to the ground, Even the King back then was known for his wrestling skills, Do you want to try your luck? Then Mandi Mohalla is your best pick.

10,000 dolls on display

Gombe Mane,House of Dolls: It is a practice in Mysore for the girls of the house to make dolls  during the time of Dasara and work on bringing out a magnificent display their collection A lot of families even today follow this practice. You can get a peek in to the colorful tradition and if you wish you can also buy the dolls from a collection of 10,000 dolls at Bombe Mane at the Ramsons Kala Parishad Call 0821 2443669

Lots in store !! So see you in Mysore this Dasara :)

Recently during Dasara Jessie Paul, Chief Marketing Officer of Wipro and her family were in Mysore and were on the  Royal Mysore Walks. It was interesting how we got across to eachother. It was on twitter where Jessie was promoting her new book No Money Marketing A  very catchy title for any entrepreneur. And I was promoting my Walks

Coupla days later, Got a tweet from Jessie saying that she and her family would be in Mysore and wanted to know if they could do the Night Walk during Dasara. A few tweets and a few hours later I was showing them around my city which was beautifully illuminated for Dasara.

NoMoney Marketing is a book on frugal marketing. A concept every business no matter how big or small would like to implement. After all who wouldn’t want more mileage by spending as little as possible It gives you a good perspective as to how you should go about creating your brand and how you ought to market it effectively. The book is simple, to the point (no high flying jargons), crisp and gets you thinking. Though it talks about examples from the IT world, The ideas can be put to use across businesses. In fact watching the Author promoting her book is a great learning on marketing. After all the Internet is going to change how we all do business and this a good book for anybody who wants to sell.

As for me, I was delighted to have an autographed copy of the book from the author and some real good tips on marketing from the CMO herself  And I must say they cracked all my trivias on Mysore, the only ones to do so on my Walks so far

The frenzy festival of Dasara just came to an end in Mysore. A time when the whole city is decked up like a bride all major roads lit up and so are the important circles. The icing on the cake is the colorful lighting on most heritage monuments and the road going up the Hill, Chamundi and to top it all the fully lit Majectic Amba Vilas Palace. As you navigate through the city it feels like you are riding through a Alice in wonderland setting, too good to be true.

Series of events are lined up each year, This time you had the Yuva (Youth) Dasara where Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal et all performing but guess the person who stole the show was our very own local lad who has achieved national fame Raghu Dixit of the Raghu Dixit project fame.. He performed in the Maharaja College grounds prolly where he played cricket in his chaddis (shorts) as a kid. Also some great performance in the Palace by legendary singers like Jagjit Singh, Harprasad Chaurasia . Performing in front of the fully illumnated Palace to the crowd I guess is quite an expereince for the artist. Also plays were staged every day, movies aired and a series of other events, all of which come free to the aam aadmi (public)

It is also a great photo opportunity for people behind the lens, Infact thats what kept me busy caputring moments which if you miss will have to wait another full year. Got some good shots this time around. Also everybody offers something new for Dasara and Royal Mysore Walks had its Night Walks

Of the 10 days the last day was the Procession, the victory march. A tradition started by the Vijayanagar Empire of the Hampi fame, more than 600 years ago which is still kept alive. The highlight being the Jamboo Savari (Golden Howda

carried by the Elephant). It was nice to see the elephants strolling on Mysore roads as a part of their daily practice routine. The traffic had to wait elephant crossing in the city for the last couple of weeks

You again had the authorities with poor planning (as always) Dasara happens every year wonder why the confusion each year, crazy amount of crowds that pour in , esp during last last days and coupled with the rains (wonder why does it have to rain during every Dasara) it wasn’t all pleasant and rosy.

But all in all it was a time when the entire city celebrates, No wonder its called the Nada Nabbha (The festival of the state)