Mysore Specials

I was in Baroda recently, I just couldnt help but notice how similar this city is to our very own Mysuru ! with so many connections it could just surprise you !!

The Mahrajas

Sayaji Rao Road, the main thoroughfare in Mysore is named after the Maharaja of Baroda, Sayaji Rao Gaekwad, The legendary Maharaja is said to have been adopted by the Royal family. The story goes that as a young boy he was asked by the queen as to why he was called to the Palace and the boy grandly announced with confidence , ‘I have come here to rule !!’ Mighty impressed he was appointed the heir apparent. He did a greatly reformed the kingdom of Baroda. When Dr BR Ambedkar did not have the money to study further, It was this Maharaja who sponsored his education in Britain of this brilliant student from the backward classes of the society which was unthinkable back then, Who would later on go on to write our constitution ! In a smiliar fashion it was the Mahraja of Mysore, Chamarajendra Wodeyer who would partly sponsor the trip of Swami Vivekananda to America to attend the first international religion parliament in Chicago in 1893, where he gave his famous speech on Hindu Religion which is still remembered to this day ! Infact one the main thoroughfares in Baroda was named after Chamarajendra Wodeyar which is now popularly known as Palace Road ! Chamarajendra Wodeyar was an adopted Maharaja too !! And as per one of the stories on the origins of the Wodeyar Dynasty, The very first King Yaduraya is said to have come from Dwarka in Gujarat.

Maharajas of Mysore and Baroda

Ramchandra Guha, the famous historian says, Most Maharajas of India were useless expect for two of them, Maharaja Sayaji Rao Gaekwad of Baroda and Majaraja Krishna Raja Wodeyar IV of Mysore for their great contribution to their respective Kingdoms !

Raja Ravi Verma

The famous Fateh Singh Museum of Baroda boasts of good collections of painting of Raja Ravi Verma’s painting,  And it sure is a very good collection indeed. It was this famous painter who introduced water colours to India and some of his great works adorn the walls here and his studio was set up right next to the Museum, which is now in shambles. But this Museum is surely one of the best kept ones in India with a great collection of painting and sculptures from across the globe. The Jagan Mohan Art Gallery in Mysore too has some priceless collection of Raja Ravi Verma and the other place which has a significant Raja Ravi Verma collection is the Sree Chitra Art Gallery in Trivandrum. They say time stops when one begins to admire Raja Ravi Verma’s paintings. This gifted artist with the strokes of his paint brushes created magic more than a 100 years back and even today it looks as if its brand new ! One needs to see it to believe it and be sure you’ll be drawn in.

The Musicians

Ustad Faiyaz Khan, the court musician of the Baroda Kingdom was an exponent in Hindustani classical music. In 1908, a grand competition was arranged in Mysore where he sang so splendidly that he eventually won the top spot for which the Maharaja of Mysore awarded him the title “Aftab-e-Mousiqui.” meaning the ‘the sun of music’. Veene Sheshanna,the famous veene mastter in the Royal Court of Mysore when on a visit to Boroda, It is said that the Gayakwad Maharaja was so pleased with his recital that he took a procession of Veene Sheshanna in a palanquin in the city of Baroda.

The Sights

In the heart of Baroda you have a bustling and colourful marketplace called the Khande Rao Market, In an old stately building selling fresh flowers, colour and vegetables, Built by Maharja Sayaji Rao in 1906 to commemorate the silver jubliee celebration of his rule and gifted it to the Baroda Muncipality. Its resemblance to our very own and vibrant century old Devaraja is striking.

Khande Rao Market

You even find quite a few clock towers in Baroda just like how you find them in Mysore, Generously erected in the city by the Royalty back then for the benefit of their subjects. You find a very promineint one very close to the Baroda city Railway Station.

Laxmi Vilas palace,Baroda

The stately Laxmi Vilas Palace sits pretty in the heart of the City. Intricately carved this majestic structure has more than 3000 beautiful stained glass windows, The highest used in any structure all imported from Belgium. The architect of the Laxmi Vilas Palace was a Englishman named Major Charles Mant who committed suicide in the 1890s for fear he had got his calculations wrong and that the palace would fall down !! How said because it still stands strong even today !! Unfortunately this Palace is very poorly maintained which is still the private property of the Royal family of Baroda ! Infact the central Arch of the Amba Vilas Palace in Mysore is modeled after the Laxmi Vilas Palace !

You also have a Oriental Library in Boroda which was inspired from the Oriental Research Library in Mysore which in Mysore is housed a grand structure which was built in 1887, to commemorate the jubilee year of Queen Victoria reign.

The century old central library is Baroda is sure not a place to be missed with some great collection of rare books,the entire flooring is made of Belgium glass and when you walk on it in the first and second floors, it sure makes you jittery The central Library of Mysore might not be housed in similar setting but set up in the Chamarajendra Technical Institute building, once up on a time it sure was a treasure for book lovers !

Glass flooring in the Baroda Central Library

Baroda is house to the famous Maharaja Sayaji Rao University,Initially started off as Baroda collage and later on acquired the status of a University !  The Mysore University set up in 1916 was the first among the Princely States in India, For which Krishna Raja Wodeyar IV sent study teams to great universities around the world to come up with what is the best model for Mysore. Both are housed in beautiful Heritage Buildings !

One could go on with more such familiar sites in Boroda like the imposing Nyay Mandir, the Law Courts, The old city and its town planning, The beautiful man made lakes. Sprawing gardens, Crickets grounds and lush green golf courses so much like how it is in Mysore ! Infact a popular sweet in Baroda is called Maisur,which is also made from gram flour !

Like they say, in the Tale of town cities there are so many many stories that are common ! and it all stands out pretty for us to notice and compare. And as this lady from Baroda now settled in Bangalore  put it, Yes Baroda and Mysore are so similar, its just that Mysore is a little more classier. Couldn’t agree with her more !

It occurred to me that I hadn’t got anything for my mom since I ventured into my own business. She deserved something special, apart from being understanding and supportive she has always made sure that I’m so comfortable at home because of which I could focus better on work. And dont they say that behind every man’s success there is woman !! okay now you do not have to go and disect the word success and come after me, this is about Sarees and Moms so coming back to it I dint have to think too hard as to what I wanted to get her. It had to be a Mysore Silk Saree !! after all what else can the founder of Royal Mysore Walks think of !! apart from a Mysore Special So off went the mom and son one afternoon to the Mysore Silk factory !!

The Mysore Silk story has always fascinated me.  This factory was started in 1912, almost a 100 yrs back by the Maharaja of Mysore to provide Silk Sarees just for the women of the Mysore Palace. These days husbands have a problem taking their better halves out shopping and back then you had a king starting an entire factory to fulfill their need  chivalry at its best i would say !! Mysore Silk Saree is the only 100% pure silk saree in the whole world and they use pure gold and silver for the zari (the border). Did you know that women sometimes get old Mysore Silk sarees melted and get ornaments made from the precious metal that is obtained !! And any woman who has worn Mysore Silk will vouch for its super lightness unlike the other Silks.

The entire process, right from the silk yarn to the complete Saree  is done in their factory in Mysore and one can witness it. I have been taking a lot of my guests on this tour, and this time I was busy explaining my mom how the entire process is done, which is quite fascinating. But what really impresses me is that fact that just about 4 yrs back it was decided that this heritage industry should be shut down as it was a loss making one. Since then it has been restructured, the workers have gone from 3 shifts have to just one shift. The productivity has increased drastically and so has the quality. Now KSIC is a 400 Cr profit making industry !! People can just log on to their website and order the Saree of their choice and their are unable to meet the market demand. You talk to weavers there who so proudly showoff their handiwork and most of their kids are studying engineering across the street in the same college that the Infosys founder Mr Narayana Murthy went to !!

After the tour mom visibly impressed decided to buy not one but two Mysore Silk Sarees !! And I wasnt complaining Guys now that you know what to buy your mom, but then what are you gonna buy your girlfriend ??

Cast my vote y’day.. Its not my first time at it.. done it a couple of times before..The responsible citizen i am but thats not the point here..It that black indelible mark on every voter’s index finget that catches my attention..

The sole supplier of indelible ink to the Election Commission of India is situated in Mysore. This 72-year-old Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd (MVPL)  is one of the many industries started by the Maharaja of Mysore..

And looks like its just not the indian voter who has the Mysore ink on the fore finger but citizens from a list of other countries too..   Just another of Mysore’s contributions making its mark.. this time literally  :)

Boni.. in the local language means getting your first customer and that’s what i had today My First Customer(MFC)!!! After weighing his options MFC finally decided to make it for the walk.. A Walk early is the morning taking in the fresh morning air is an enjoyable experience plus MFC with his curiosity and attention made it all the more interesting..

At one point in the walk MFC exclaimed “I’ve never seen so many bananas all my life” he was right.. there were quite a few of them.. he quite enjoyed the market place and yeah we both loved our desi cutting chai.

Having finished the walk in about 2 hrs we headed for a sumptuous south Indian breakfast.. MFC was quite generous in his appreciation and also quite thoughtful in his critical feedback.. It was over our conversation when i realised what an avid and an extremely interesting traveller MFC was .. i was quite taken aback.. i must say looks are deceptive.. I’ve always enjoyed listening to people’s travel experiences there is something in it that always makes me to want to see more..

On letting MFC know that is was “MFC”, he was quite happy and passed me a “silver coin” so that it would bring me luck!!! here I was to give MFC a memorable experience but he ended up giving one in return..

Hope MFC got much more than he had hoped for.. because i certainly did.. My Boni was turely amazing..

Its more than year since i had been toying with the idea of starting a walking tour in Mysore.. The travel bug i guess is in the family.. having seen almost the whole of India as kid.. the urge to see more of the world was always at the back of mind..

My stint in Singapore gave me a great opportunity to explore south east Asia.. It was fun backpacking at any given opportunity.. lying to my boss.. getting fake medical certificates i guess bosses are the worst enemies of travellers all over the world ..but there was so much to see that i had to do it quite often It was around the same time when heard about a walking tour in Singapura, Tried it and loved the experience..

Since then i had been harbouring this thought of starting such a thing in Mysore.. having quit my job more the six months back and nose diving into doing research and meeting people who gave me a glimpse into Mysore’s past.. i must say its an extremely fulfilling experience.. So after all the toil.. here we are now all set to offer RMW to the world..

Following what some great man associated with whisky said.. “Keep Walking”…