It was the morning of the third day of our tour to Mysore. The evening before, it had poured a little, and the morning was a bit lazier than the previous two mornings. We still had three hours on our hands before setting off for Jaganmohan Palace. Yes, according to the plan, we had Jagan Mohan Palace, Mysore Palace, and Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace on the list for that date. Among all three, we had a special interest in Jagan Mohan Palace, as it houses some of the most amazing and beautiful paintings by Raja Ravi Varma, SL Haldankar, Abanindranath Tagore, and many others. But to our astonishment, the Summer Palace or Daria Daulat Bagh, was also equally captivating with its small yet fine architecture, teakwood work, wall paintings and huge trees in its garden, some of which were more than 200 years old. (We will talk about this palace and Tipu Sultan next time.)
We didn’t want to lose those precious three hours of time by lying on the cozy bed of our hotel room and watching TV or scrolling down the mobile screen. I googled a little and realized that there is an old local market called Devaraja Market, which is just 3 kilometers from our hotel. Our hotel was located on the Nizamabad Main Road. We came out of our hotel, booked an auto rickshaw, and headed towards KR Circle (the Krishna Rajendra Circle). From the circle, we took Sayyaji Road, which connects with Visvesvaraya Circle to reach Devaraja Market.
We entered the market through one of its gates, and now I really don’t remember the name. It has a total of four entry gates. The market was just in a warm-up mode when we arrived. A few shopkeepers were about to open their shutters, whereas a few were just arriving and raising their hands in namaskara mudra towards the almighty.
The landscape inside the bazaar was that of a typical traditional Indian market (of course, there is a touch of modernity with time), there was a rush, a crowd, noise, and chaos; yet there was a sense of joy and celebration of life. The vibrant colors of the flowers, the broad, bright smiles on the faces of old, wrinkled individuals, and the enthusiasm of those trembling hands for holding the scales to balance faith and tradition are just mesmerizing. With every breath, we were taking in the fresh smell of flowers prominently jasmine, incense sticks, and spices. It was just like a cocktail for the Olfactory nerve, which was driving and guiding our minds to travel up to the core of the place. The loud yet rhythmic calls of vendors, when mixed with the music of slokas being played by a few shopkeepers, were enough to pull our souls to walk through the lanes in a state of spellbound.
Devaraja Market is tagged as one of the oldest markets in Mysore city. According to some records, this market was originally established in the late 18th century during the rule of Tipu Sultan. It was initially a small weekly trading space for fresh local vegetables and fruits, called a Hatt. During the rule of Maharaja Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar, the name of the market was changed to Devaraja Market. In the 1900s, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar provided this local traditional market with a modern look. At present, this market covers an area of 3 acres, and around 800 shops are functional. There are four entrances to the market: one on Dhanvanthri Road in the south, one opposite the Duffer Clock Tower in the north, and two entrances to the center of the main complex on Sayyaji Rao Road. The entire market is designed with separate sections dedicated to different categories of products. They have separate lanes and sections for flowers, pooja samagri, vegetables, jaggery, coconut, and puffed rice.
Though this market has undergone renovations and touch-ups from time to time, it has still not lost its routine of selling fresh local veggies and fruits. The entire space is filled with local flowers, vegetables, fruits, banana leaves, seeds, as well as incense sticks, traditional household and farming tools, jewelry, perfumes, gifts, clothes, and some traditional sweet shops. According to locals, the crowd and enthusiasm of this market remain at the same pace all through the year. We roamed inside the market aimlessly. We interacted with a few. For exchanging smiles, joy, appreciation, emotions, and thankfulness, language can never be a barrier. Just look straight into the eyes and smile brightly, and yes, you can touch thousands of nerves. Though they observed that we were not buying anything, with a smile and enthusiasm, they explained their traditional tools and food items in Kannada, adding a few words of English and Hindi. At a few points, they would burst into laughter and feel connected when we said, “In Odia also” or “In our language also, we use exactly the same word.”
While coming out of the market, the smell of fresh Mysore pak drew our attention. We stopped at the Guru Sweet Mart, which has various kinds of traditional Indian sweets on its racks. We grabbed some Mysore pak, and the taste was really different from the Mysore pak that we have been eating since our childhood in our state. It was not dry and rough, which often peels off your soft palate after chewing a few bites. Instead, it was soft, a little juicy, and easily palatable. Not only this particular shop, but also the Shree Mahalaxmi Sweets on Ashoka Road, near the Big Clock Tower, sells one of the best Mysore Paks. If you ever plan to visit Mysore and it’s a Sunday, then stop at this shop, get some fresh, soft, moist Mysore pak, take a bite, chew it, and allow it to melt in your mouth while standing on the footpath facing the illuminated Mysore Palace. You can never feel a better sense of Mysorehood inside you than in this moment.
