Mysore: no eyesore!

Which quite surprised me - it's actually rather a nice city. And the palace - the former seat of the Wodeyar maharajas - is splendid indeed. One of India's grandest royal buildings.

Churches, mosques, and temples of South India - Churches

Here are some churches we came across in Mysore, Bangalore, Trivandrum, and Kanyakumari. There seem to be lots of Christians in South India, about 19% in Kerala according to Wikipedia, and they're clearly often devout too.

I'm a cow and I own the place

And they really do seem to. This was in the grounds of the Sri Chamundeswari Temple near Mysore, but all over India, in villages and sometimes in quite big cities, you come across them roaming the streets, clearly revelling in their time honoured entitlements.

Monkey business

Monkeys are everywhere in India. Don't get too close and they'll leave you alone.











 

They're usually far too busy reading the newspaper, after all. This one is at the Sri Chamundeswari temple on Chamundi Hill.
















Or checking each other out, sometimes rather too closely.

All aboard!

This sighting, in Mysore in Karnataka, India the other week, represents my personal world record. Some years ago I sighted a family of five on a motorbike, in Malaysia or Indonesia I think it was. But I've never managed to snap a picture of more than four. Then along comes this group of six. And here's the proof!

Colourful women of Karnataka

And Kerala doesn't actually have a monopoly in this department. It's a similar story all over India, though there are undoubtedly variations in styles and colour. Here are a few pics from the neighbouring state of Karnataka.