Friday, October 22, 2010

The other side of Dasara

Dasara - also written as Dussehra - is celebrated with much fanfare in a lot of places. One of them is Mysore - and, for the first time, I decided to travel to a really crowded place.
Dasara Crowds
From Mysore
And, was it crowded?! Good heavens - it was probably one of the most crowded events I've ever been to - people going in every direction all the time and climbing on anything that would give them a good view of the procession!

More than the procession, I found the festive atmosphere, the people and all that was going on around pretty interesting. Needless to say, it was a typical crazily festive day! :)

Even as we walked towards the Mysore Palace, the roads were closed for traffic and there were people everywhere. After getting jostled mightily :( by the crowds, we found our spot by a tonga (horse-drawn cart).

Dasara Crowds
From Mysore
Just looking around, you can see the amazing interest in the procession - much more than I'd anticipated. Much wilder than just passing interest :) People were everywhere - on trees, on pillars and posts, on ornamental entrances and barricades. There wasn't a single structure standing without a man standing on it!
Dasara Crowds
From Mysore
There was a thief who got thrashed, people falling off from the barricades (and getting on them again) all the time, moving here and there, kids on shoulders, cameras held above... all in all, it was great fun.

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