Mysore Last Updated Sunday, 19 December :24

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1 Mysore (area of SqKM, population of 799,228) is the second largest city in the state of Karnataka and the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division It lies about 146 KM (91 miles) southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka at the base of the Chamundi Hills and between the rivers Kaveri and Kabini The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha Mahisha stands for Mahishasura, a demon from Hindu mythology History: The region was known as Puragere till the 15th century In 1524 by Chamaraja Wodeyar III ( ) constructed the Mahishuru Fort During the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire, the Mysore Kingdom under Wodeyars, served as a feudatory Mysore was the center of the Wodeyar administration till 1610 when Raja Wodeyar ousted the Vijayanagara Governor at nearby Srirangapatna and made it his capital With the demise of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1565, the Mysore Kingdom gradually achieved independence and became a sovereign state by the time of King Narasaraja Wodeyar (1637) Mysore was the capital of the Kingdom of Mysore ruled by the Wodeyar dynasty till 1947, except for a 40-year period in the 18th century when Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan were the de facto rulers of the province The Wodeyars were patrons of art and culture and contributed significantly to the cultural growth of the city The post Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799 and after Tipu Sultan's death, the Kingdom was distributed by the British to their allies of the war, the Marhata, Nizam, and State of Travancore, while Mysore city was retained by the British In 1805, they had built the Government House which is now used by the Government of Karnataka as a State Guest House The existing town of Nazarabad was demolished to remove any traces of Tipu's rule The capital of the kingdom was moved back to Mysore In 1831, Mysore lost its status as the administrative centre of the kingdom when Mark Cubbon, the British commissioner, moved the capital to Bangalore However it regained this status in 1881, when the British handed power back to the Wodeyars The city remained the capital of the Wodeyars till 1947, with Mysore Palace as the administrative center Weather: Jan 1 / 5

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3 Avg Max Temp in C Avg Min Temp in C Festival: Mysore is well known for the festivities that take place during the period of Dasara, the state festival of Karnataka The Dasara festivities, which are celebrated over a ten-day period, were first introduced by King Raja Wodeyar I in 1610 On the ninth day of Dasara, called Mahanavami, the royal sword is worshipped and is taken on a procession comprising decorated elephants, camels and horses On the tenth day, called Vijayadashami, the traditional Dasara procession (locally known as Jumboo Savari) is held on the streets of Mysore city An image of the Goddess Chamundeshwari is placed on a golden mantapa on the back of a decorated elephant and taken on a procession, accompanied by tableaux, dance groups, music bands, decorated elephants, horses and camels The procession starts from the Mysore Palace and culminates at a place called Bannimantapa where the banni tree (Prosopi s spicigera ) is worshipped The Dasara festivities culminate on the night of Vijayadasham 3 / 5

4 i with a torchlight parade (locally known as Panjina Kavayatthu) Transport: Air The Chamaraja Wadiyar International Airport or the Mandakalli Airport provides flights from Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai through Kingfisher Airlines Rail The train service connects Mysore with Bangalore, Hassan and Chamarajanagar Road Mysore is connected by National Highway NH-212 to the state border town of Gundlupet which then forks into the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu The State Highway 17 connects Mysore to Bangalore Other main roads are State Highways 33 and 88, which connect Mysore to H D Kote and Madikeri respectively The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and other private agencies operate buses from Mysore Auto-rickshaws are also available for intra-city commute Tongas are popular in Mysore Tourism: The main attraction of Mysore is the Ambavilas Palace (Mysore Palace) The Jaganmohana Palace, the Jayalakshmi Vilas and the Lalitha Mahal are some of the other palaces in the city Chamundeshwari Temple, atop the Chamundi Hills and St Philomena's Church are popular religious places in Mysore The Mysore Zoo, established in 1892, and the Karanji and Kukkarahalli lakes are also popular spots for tourists Museums in Mysore include the Regional Museum of Natural History, the Folk Lore Museum, the Railway Museum and the Oriental Research Institute The city is also a centre for yoga-related health tourism that attracts lot of foreign visitors as well A Wax Museum "Melody World" was established in October 2010 based on Musical instruments exhibiting over 110 life-size wax statues and 300 musical instruments arranged in various bands and stage settings A short distance from Mysore city is the Krishnarajasagar Dam and the adjoining Brindavan Gardens where a musical fountain show is held in the evening Places of historic importance 4 / 5

5 lying close to Mysore are Srirangapatna, Somanathapura andtalakad The B R Hills and Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta and the hill stations of Ooty Sultan Battery and Madikeri are all near Mysore Popular destinations for wildlife enthusiasts near Mysore include the National Parks at Bandipur and Nagarhole, the wildlife sanctuaries at Melkote and B R Hills and the bird sanctuaries at Ranganathittu and Kokrebellur Other tourist spots near Mysore include the religious locations of Nanjanagud and Bylakuppe and the waterfalls at Shivanasamudra Hotels in Mysore: Name of the Hotels Tariff range in Indian Rs Contact address/ Phone Nos The tourists may contact the hotels directly at the address indicated above, where the contact details have been provided by the hotels in the above table Alternatively, please contact your travel agent (from the list under "Travel Services" in the main menu) who deals with the concerned hotel or you may also contact ArrayTours for booking For details, please log on to wwwarraytourscom or your queries to info@arraytourscom or phone , The editors are not responsible for the stated information and the quality of service offered The readers may please verify the same from the concerned authority 5 / 5

FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, JANUARY 23 AT 6 AM

FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, JANUARY 23 AT 6 AM Interviews with 1,008 adult Americans conducted by telephone by Opinion Research Corporation on January 19-21,. The margin of sampling error for results based on the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage