by 10. She and I went in very quickly-- there weren't many people. The same guide was there at the entrance to the palace that Cindy, Maya and I had used last time in March, and at first I thought to find someone else. In the end, after we walked around the gardens a bit,
and stopped for a call of nature, we went back to the entrance for a guide, and picked him up as the best candidate. As we were going into the palace itself, we noticed that there were several elephants lined up by the main gate to the palace grounds (and a jeep went whizzing by in that direction). The guide said that he knew the elephants, and would make sure we got to get close to them, but we would need to hurry a bit. So he took us on a tour of the palace (many of the same jokes and stories as last time), but fortunately there weren't many people in the palace, so we could move quickly from one area to another. I understood him better this time as my ears were not so stuffed up, and I think I understand the Indian speech patterns better as well. Giselle still had trouble with him. Giselle enjoyed the beautiful architecture, and the paintings of the gods/goddesses. Neither of us really were that interested in the royal family, though it is still interesting to see them at least once.
Anyways back to the elephants. They were coming for the first of the celebrations of Dasara (More info) So we watched the parade come up from the main gates, to the front of the Palace, 5 elephants, preceeded by a marching band,
met by an honor guard of local police. There must have been about 200 people watching the whole thing, half of which were press. Then the elephants did a salute to the honor guard,
and the guard left. The elephants then proceeded right up to the gate, and were turned around. At this point many photos were taken with some celebrities (local dignitaries I guess). And then, Giselle and I (no one else) were offered the opportunity to feed the head elephant. There were a variety of fruits. Now normally feeding an elephant is holding something out and he takes it in his trunk. But no, not this time. We had to put the food into his mouth (and get his saliva on our hands in the process). We each had a large bowl to feed him. Our pictures were taken by the press, and I was even interviewed on camera afterwards. At this time I was really kicking myself for not bringing in the camera. I had left it in the car as one is not allowed to take a camera into the Palace itself, and didn't want to leave it at the 'camera keep'. What a shame, my cell phone was running out of battery and I didn't get a photo. The guide did offer that if any photos of us turned up (he asked a couple of photographers), he would send them to me. I really hope something shows up, but I'm not holding my breath...Well, anyways, what an exhilarating experience. These animals stand there and look you in the eye. You can just feel that they are gentle at the moment, but boy the power there is enormous. And they seem very intelligent. It was a once in a lifetime experience!!!
After that, we saw the St. Philomina Cathedral, went to the folklore museum
on the Mysore University Campus. The museums are awesome, they have historical artifacts, a literary museum, and best of all a folklore museum with sculptures, paintings, puppets and much much more. Unfortunately the docent in the folkore museum part didn't speak much English, but still impressive.And then went up the Chamundi Hills to see the temple and the demon statue.
All in all it was a long but very fun and interesting day. I never thought I'd be the attention of the media feeding elephants in India.
1 comment:
Reed is totally jealous about the elephants! And now Giselle's comment that she "fed the head elephant" makes sense!
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