The City Of Palaces — Mysore — is fast emerging as an industrial destination, with investments coming in globally for housing, hospitals, educational institutions and technology. Popular for its palaces, greenery, serenity, and friendly and courteous people, it has started undergoing the process of change and with it, the usual problems pertaining to infrastructure, roads and other amenities that need to be looked into, while maintaining the heritage value of the City’s regality and splendour.

Intrinsic energy
Old Mysore City had its own intrinsic energy with lakes spread across and around the city, but most importantly, the vast green zones earmarked as gardens, have been the harbinger of excellent feel and in turn, good Feng Shui and Vaastu, and often referred to in Feng Shui as ‘bright hall’ effect.

From the Vaastu perspective, although water in the form of lakes existing at the West sector of the city (considering the Maharaja’s Palace as the Centre) in the University campus, and that near the sandalwood oil factory, is a taboo, the number of lakes spread towards the east and northeast of the City have counter balanced this ill effect. The long and more or less straight railway line moving in the North-South axis between the lakes on the west and east, has also been beneficial as the frequent movement of the trains in both the directions from the Feng Shui perspective, has been churning the ‘Chi’ energy and is considered Yang (positive).
Many of the developed eastern countries have paid great attention to ecology, town planning and traffic flow, and this has contributed greatly towards their development. The overall energy of the Old city of Mysore has been calm and this has led to snail pace development and modernisation. Yet, with new areas developing and real estate prices moving upwards, the entire look and feel of Mysore City is getting an upheaval.

Feng Shui, is both, an art and a science that aims to ensure that all things are in harmony with their surroundings. Its application ranges from planning entire cities and empires, to placing a guest at the dinner table; from the orientation of high-rise office buildings, to the interior decoration and furnishing of a house or a room.

Ever wondered why Singapore is also known as a Garden City. Why would Singapore go around planting trees? After all, maintaining a Garden City is very expensive.

Well, here's the answer — if you were to look at Singapore from the top, Singapore resembles a crab, with its mouth the Singapore River and its back facing Malaysia. We all know that cooked crabs (that means dead crabs) are red, the colour of barren ground. But a live crab is basically a dark shade of green. So, by planting trees, you make Singapore look green and not red, and therefore, alive. Interestingly enough, this system was not only used in China. In Hong Kong, Feng Shui is widely used today by many planners and architects. Hong Kong's mainland district, Kowloon (meaning Nine Dragons), was named and sited according to Feng Shui traditions. Large construction projects in Hong Kong are said to use the advice of Feng Shui for the location of the veins of the dragon (or underground water flows).

If all these countries can adapt some logic, science and aesthetics, why should The City of Palaces - Mysore, with all its splendour, tourism; present technological strength and let the excellent gift of nature lag behind? It is saddening that many of us are sceptical on such issues and wait for endorsement from other countries before we start adapting these tools for improving our comfort levels.

There are many ways one could counter the changes through proper town planning, traffic flow, increase of greenery, maintaining lakes in order, avoiding ‘killing loops’ and ‘piercing’ flyover designs. Builders and architects are ensuring that each of their projects do not have sharp corners or  piercing elevation, sending out what is known as ‘poison arrows’ in Feng Shui to the surrounding buildings and environment.

Energy of traffic
Traffic movement is nothing but flow of energy. During olden days, water movement in the form of flowing rivers was taken into account for deciding suitable locations for towns and villages to develop around, so excess flow of energy in the form of heavy traffic depending upon the direction of the flow, determines the overall energy of the surroundings and the environment. Regulating traffic flow and avoiding flyovers which are looped back and forth, creating  energy ‘chaos’ and generating what is known as ‘Spiralling energy’  in areas of intersections, could ease a lot of ‘choking energy’ and restore order.

Segregating all office blocks and residential areas to ensure that ‘excess energy’ movement does not affect residents in the form of heavy vehicular movements and setting up campuses for industries, IT, at identified areas would remove obstacles and restore equilibrium to the city.

Achieving abundance through Feng Shui is not something restricted to individuals. When it is adapted through proper town planning, community development and ecological balance, Mysore can and will surpass all other business centres in the world not just for economy but for a beautiful and peaceful city.

The year 2008, known as the Year of the Rat in Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology, forecasts a year of ‘good times’ for the property market. Mysore will not be left behind and is sure to move ahead in terms of Real Estate value and development. In times to come, the Grand Mysore Dussehra would not be the only thing which would draw in global attention but its beauty and growth.