More to Mysore than a Palace…Much More

 Southern India, Uncategorized, UTube links  Comments Off on More to Mysore than a Palace…Much More
Apr 192012
 

Today started early with a temple visit. We are developing more practiced eyes for distinguishing the different styles, schools of architecture and periods.

Somnathpur Keshava temple is an hour drive outside of Mysore. This less-visited temple is a remarkably well-preserved example of Hoysala architeture. Built in the 13th-century It is a symmetrical star-shaped building, carved of soapstone both inside and out with ornate images of Hindu legends and gods. Each of the six points of the star were carved by a different master carver, his apprentices and family so each is a distinctly different interpretation of the same themes. it was only used as an active temple for 100 years because India was over run by the Mogul armies who defaced many of these exquisite carvings just like the Christians did in Egypt.

The drive was almost as interesting as the monuments. A local farmer gave us a tour of his village in his bullock cart. We chatted with local women headed to the river to take their bath and we saw how a local entrepreneur could set up his own temple and promote himself.
Lunch was in a castle, the distinctly European Lalitha Mahal Palace. Built by the last raj in 1915 to house his other raj buds or visiting international dignitaries, it is an attempt to emulate British or European royal palaces.

In the afternoon we took in the ornate, pink marble-domed Mysore Palace, the former residence of the local maharaja’s family The term “Mysore Palace” specifically refers to one within the old fort. The Wodeyar rulers first built a palace in Mysore in the 14th century, it was demolished and constructed multiple times. The current palace construction was commissioned in 1897, and it was completed in 1912 and expanded later around 1940

Intricately carved rosewood doors and ceilings some with inlaid ivory work, marble figurines, collections of caskets, paintings of the members of the royal family and other objects of personal use exude opulence, though age has deteriorated most with fading and discoloration. An abundance of ancient ceremonial objects like glittering gold and wooden frames that once composed an elephant’s train for carrying royalty and other persons of distinction throughout Mysore’s ancient streets.

Cochin or Kochi…

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Apr 192012
 

Out before breakfast we catch a ferry to start exploring Cochin city proper…

Along with worshippers headed to temple this morning to celebrate the Hindu New Year, we rode the ferry to an island adjacent to where we are staying. We had a good view of Kochin’s signature Chinese fishing nets and the sunrise over the harbor.

Kochi merchants began trading in spices with the Arabs, Dutch, Phoenicians, Portuguese, and Chinese more than 600 years ago. This helped Kochi to prosper and to become the gateway to old India. It was from Kochi that colonization of India started. Kochi was traditionally a potpourri of various Indian and international communities. Syrian Christians started the first wave of immigration, followed by Jews between the 7th and 10th centuries. Arab merchants also made a strong settlement in Kochi in the 15th century, But it was in the early part of the 19th century when the Dutch built a series of check dams and canals still in use today, that the brackish backwater was transformed into highly productive farmland.

The Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1814, forced the Dutch to hand over Kochi to the British in exchange for an island in Indonesia. The British then confined their influence over Kochi, limiting their direct administration to a small enclave of Fort Kochi close to our hotel.

Modern Kochi city really got underway when Sir Robert Bristow, a senior Royal Navy Engineer felt need of a modern large port after the opening of Suez Canal. This made creation of largest man-made island of the country, the Willingdon Island to house new Kochi Port.

The most recent political evolution created the formation of Kerala in 1957 as a part of India. Kochi has been the commercial capital of Kerala

The colonial charms of Fort Kochi with arrays of traditional European bungalows and alleys are testimony to the former British, Dutch and Portuguese presence.
Generally, Kochinites seem to pride themselves on being modern and fashionable. As a city that has a tradition of being a melting pot culture, they show a high level of tolerance with each tradition shown equal respect. It is a festival weekend for the Hindus who are celebrating the beginning of their new year and on Sunday morning Christian churches are filled to overflowing.

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Gone to Goa…

 Southern India, Uncategorized  Comments Off on Gone to Goa…
Apr 192012
 

After an over priced experience in Bangalore we have been delighted by the sights and accommodations here in Goa.

The monuments of Goa that we visited today were great examples of 16th-18th century architecture, sculpture, and painting Baroque art as it spread throughout Asia wherever Catholic missions were established. The churches in Old Goa sought to awe the local population into conversion and to impress upon them the superiority of the foreign religion being introduced. To that end the facades were built tall and lofty and the interiors were magnificent, with twisted Bernini columns, decorated pediments, profusely carved and gilded altars, and colourful wall paintings and frescoes.

Local laterite was used in the construction of the churches. it was then plastered and finished with a lime whitewash. Trims were sometimes of basalt. The colour white was so identified with churches that the local administration ruled that no home could be painted that colour.
Of the 60 churches inventoried in the 18th century before the city was abandoned, seven major examples survive. The Sé Cathedral with its Tuscan exterior, Corinthian columns, raised platform with steps leading to the entrance, and barrel-vault is another example of Renaissance architecture. The paintings in the church were executed on wooden boards and fixed between panels with floral designs. Except for a few statues which are in stone, most of the other statues of the saints, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus were first carved in wood and then painted to adorn the altars.

The Chapel of St Catherine dating from 1510, the Church and Convent of Saint Francis of Assisi (which now houses the Archaeological Museum), and the Church of Bom Jesus where the mortal remains of St Francis Xavier rest, are some of the best in terms of design and style. Also of importance are St Gagtan and its seminary, Our Lady of the Rosary (one of the earliest churches to be built), and the Tower of St Augustine, all that remains of a convent built in 1572. The Church of St Cajetan has a facade decorated with lonic, Doric, and Corinthian pilasters.

The Portuguese explorer Alfonso de Albuquerque conquered Goa in 1510 and the Portuguese ruled the territory until 1961. The colony of Goa, which has its centre in Old Goa (tomorrow’s walkabout) became the capital of the vast eastern Portuguese Empire, sharing the same civic privileges as Lisbon. By 1635, the successive waves of Europeans brought about the inevitable decline of Goa in 1542 the Jesuits, who were driven by the ardour of medieval crusaders, arrived in the city and Francis Xavier, one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, rapidly became the patron saint of Goa. a.

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