The palace walk

The Mysuru Palace is hosting floral models of famous personalities and popular icons, a rare photo exhibition, a doll show on the side, and a huge cake display. Mysureans are thronging to the Palace to get some fresh air and feel nostalgic.

Shilpa P

Amid misty, foggy, cold mornings and chilly nights with the temperature touching 16 degrees in Mysuru, Mysureans are enjoying this visual treat of floral sculptures, at a nine-day long flower show by Mysuru Palace Board. The flower show has been going on at the Mysoru Palace since Saturday.

Floral tributes are on display to mark the personalities who have contributed to our culture. To mark the seventy-fifth year of Indian Independence, floral tributes have been paid to Gandhiji and other freedom fighters depicting the ‘Quit India Movement’. There is another glimpse of history, with the colourful statue of Vonake Obavva killing enemies entering Chithradurga Fort.

Actor Puneeth Rajkumar’s pictures are also on display. Puneeth is being fondly recalled with a documentary on him telecast on a huge LED screen. There are also floral models of Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra, and IAF group captain Abhinand Varthaman who was awarded Vir Chakra recently, to celebrate their achievements. To recall the bygone royal era of Mysuru, there are models of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, (the last maharaja of Mysuru before the privy purse was abolished) and of the queen being carried in a palanquin.

Any show in Mysuru is incomplete without elephants, so there are floral models of two elephants, on the theme of ‘khdda operation’ (Elephant training). Kids can be seen frolicking around floral models of Baal Ganesh, and cartoon characters like Maasha, Tom and Jerry and Donald Duck.

Noted floral artist Umashankar, has come up with these floral models along with his team of 80 people. He has been the person behind mega floral models for the past two decades in all the major flower shows of the State including the Lalbagh flower show in Bengaluru, flower show at Raja’s Seat in Madikeri and Mysuru Dasara flower show. Along with the existing 15,000 flower pots of Mysuru Palace, additional flower pots and cut flowers from Ooty and Bengaluru were added, according to Palace Board horticulture officer Mr Ramakrishna.

Doll show

Few Mysureans who are known for coming with attractive dolls shows at their homes during Dasara, were seen throwing light on the rich dolls show tradition of Mysuru at dolls’ show corner on the show premises.

Dolls shows with the theme of Girija Kalyana by palace priest Srihari Dixith and his wife Geetha Srihari, who convert their entire bungalow into a doll house during Dasara, was on display. Another another doll show on Mysuru Dasara by Meera Ramesh was attracting both young and old visitors. Mysureans Nagaprasad, Hemalatha Kumarswamy, Leelavathi, have also put up a doll shows on various themes.

People are also enjoying an expo of rare photos and videos of the royal family of Mysuru celebrating Dasara during the ‘royal era and now’. While in the background instrumental music of keerthanas (songs) composed by Jayachamaraja Wadiyar plays on.

People also went to enjoy musical concerts by Vijayprakash, Vidhyabhushan infront at the illuminated Mysuru Palace in the evenings, for the first three days.