The purpose of our trip to Mysore was to see the famed Dussehra parade. Who could resist the allure of a parade that promised elephants, golden thrones, and dancing girls?
We met up with the Amstutz Family to watch the parade. Paul is a fellow Fulbright teacher, his wife Karen is a park ranger at Yosemite, and together with their three beautiful daughters aged 3, 6 and 9 they are living and teaching in Bangalore. He and his family are perhaps the most adventurous people I have ever met - they make us seem boring by comparison.
Paul and family got an earlier start and found an excellent viewpoint very near our hotel. As we walked the street in search of the Amstutz family I was in absolute awe of the magnitude of the crowds packed onto the sidewalks, in the trees, and on roof tops. Others packed onto the flat bed trucks that served as roadblocks and impromptu seating. If we saw tens of thousands at the palace the night before, then there were easily hundreds of thousands lining the streets now for the parade. The crowds alone were an amazing spectacle.
We sat, as patiently as possible, in the hot sun for hours waiting for the parade to begin. As we waited we got to enjoy the company of our American friends, swapping crazy India stories, and the joys and pains of travelling with children.
When the parade finally reached us it was more than worth the wait! It was everything a parade should be: vibrant, colorful, loud, garish. There were elephants, drums, dancers, fire breathers, puppets, acrobats, men on stilts, gods, goddesses, missiles, musicians, and a golden throne. It was sensational!I think the parade speaks best through images, so I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking. Click on the link below to see Pat's slide show:
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