More Mysore Adventures

I've been scheduling adventures for Saturdays. Here's what I did a couple Saturdays ago.

Chamundi Hill overlooks Mysore. An epic battle between a demon and a princess occurred there, so legend goes.
I started at the very bottoms of the hill, and thought it would be a pretty quiet day. There were a few Indian youths loitering, as they are want to do, but I was pretty much the only person trudging up the steps.

Then, after 700 or so steps, I got to Nandi the Bull:

Looks rather affable, no?

Turns out you can drive to Nandi and take the remaining 300+ steps, no need to do the whole thing. Funnily enough, hardly anyone walked up the last 300 steps either.

Made it to 1000.

Devotees mark each step with powder. 

Flames leading up to the top. Only a couple dozen steps were on fire, though.

I got dotted. The holy man also gave me some water, which I politely pretended to splash in my mouth. 

Then I got to the actual top. As it happens, pretty much everyone drives to the top, making a quick stop at Nandi. It was a festival!

At the base of the temple.

Holy stuff happening.

The temple proper. Hundreds of people were waiting in line, so I never got to see inside.

After poking around for a bit I went back down the stairs and met this group of youngins. When C and I traveled to India the first time, many Indian tourists requested photographs with us (it was probably C's manly facial hair that did it). And sometimes people take my picture without asking (usually creepy men). These kids just wanted me to take their picture, so I did.

They appear to be part of a sports team.

Because of my fear of stairs, my journey down to the bottom took a long time. These guys would race ahead and then run back and tell me to take a picture of a monument.

My next stop, St. Philomena's church, in the distance.

I headed on to St. Philomena's church. It's based on the cathedral in Cologne, Germany. 

From the front.

Inside. I snuck this photo. 

I made a new friend at the cathedral, a young man who wanted me to go to his shop. He took this photo of me before I told him "Bye!"

Little side building.

I headed home after the church. Sightseeing in India can be pretty exhausting. Or maybe I'm just getting old. Or it could have been the steps. Anyhow, this was my first adventure day without my buddy Y. I managed to only mildly embarrass myself (for instance, when a young man outside the temple pointed out that my camera wasn't broken but rather that I had to take off the lens cap.) 

Sleeping dogs.