'City of Palaces' hot favourite with tourists over extended weekend

The 'City of Palaces', one of the major tourist spots in the state, witnessed an increase in the number of tourists owing to the extended weekend between January 26 and January 28. Thousands of tourists thronged Mysuru Palace, Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Chamundi Hill and other picnic spots in the city. However, by Sunday evening a majority of the visitors left the city.

Srikanteshwara temple at Nanjangud and Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) in Srirangapatna, Mandya district, also attracted huge crowds.

The inflow was almost double during the extended weekend between January 26 and January 28. With Republic Day (January 26) falling on Friday, followed by fourth Saturday (January 27) and Sunday (January 28), people from various parts of the state and the neighbouring states chose to holiday in Mysuru. However, as various pro-Kannada organisations had called for a Karnataka bandh on January 25, the footfall of tourists was less as compared to the other days.

Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, popularly known as Mysuru Zoo and Mysuru Palace, had recorded an average footfall of 20,000 each day on January 26 and 27. The number of visitors on Sunday (January 28) is also expected to be the same. The numbers were much higher than the usual weekend rush in almost all the places. A large number of devotees made a beeline to Chamundi Hill to seek blessings of Goddess Chamundeshwari.

Accommodation

Hotels and other accommodation facilities in the city made good business over the weekend. Almost all hotels were booked in advance.

Amanager at a hotel said that visitors had made bookings 15 days in advance. Many tourists had booked rooms from January 25 but cancelled due to the Karnataka bandh, he said.

Traffic jams

The corresponding traffic density was also high in the city and traffic jams were common causing much inconvenience to road users. As PWD has taken up asphalting works on Hunsur road and other places, traffic had to be diverted thus adding to the chaos.