The Hindu : Karnataka / Mysore News : Rise in number of visitors to Mysore

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 16, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mysore

Rise in number of visitors to Mysore

Laiqh A. Khan

Tourism Department officials claim an 18 per cent increase in the number of tourists

TEEMING WITH TOURISTS: There has been an increase in the number of people visiting Chamundeshwari Temple, atop Chamundi Hills, during May 2005. — Photo: M.A. Sriram

MYSORE: If the statistics made available by the State Tourism Department and the Mysore City Corporation are any indication, the royal city was teeming with tourists during the vacation season this year.

While the authorities of the corporation claim that an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 tourists visited Mysore for sightseeing each day, the Tourism Department has recorded an unprecedented rise in the number of people visiting places of tourist interest in and around Mysore in May.

The Assistant Director of the Tourism Department, Mysore district, Vikram, told The Hindu that the famed Mysore Palace, which attracted 2.94 lakh visitors in May, topped the chart, closely followed by the Mysore zoo, Brindavan Gardens, and Chamundi Hills.

The number of visitors to the palace in May last year was 2.50 lakh. "The rise in the number of visitors is around 18 per cent this year," officials said.

The Mysore zoo, which recorded 2.05 lakh visitors in May 2004, was visited by 2.55 lakh people this year, registering an increase of more than 25 per cent.

Though the figures relating to the number of visitors to the renovated Brindavan Gardens for the month of May 2005 has not been received by the Tourism Department, the statistics pertaining to April clearly indicate the swell in the number of tourists. "During April 2005, 2.19 lakh people visited the gardens, against 1.31 lakh during April 2004," an official of the department said.

The officials of the department attributed the phenomenal increase in the number of visitors to Brindavan Gardens to the recent sprucing up as well as the growing popularity of Mysore as an ideal tourist destination.

Chamundi Hills too is finding itself in the list of "must see" destinations in Mysore. With the collections for the special darshan of the Chamundeshwari diety atop the hillock amounting to Rs. 14.65 lakhs - each ticket being Rs. 10 - authorities of the department said that a minimum of 1.4 lakh people have visited Chamundi Hills during May 2005. However, the temple authorities claim that since many people visit the temple for "general darshan," the total number of people visiting Chamundi Hills is anybody's guess. The officials of the department are flummoxed over the temple authorities' claim that a staggering 10 lakh people visited the temple during May 2005.

Tourist information

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of the Mysore City Corporation, A.B. Ibrahim, expressed concern over the absence of tourist information to the people visiting Mysore every day.

With a view to providing information to the visitors, the corporation has decided to put up maps of Mysore and the other places of interest in and around the city at 20 vantage points.

The corporation will erect such maps near Tataiah Park at K.R. Circle, near Toll Gate on Bangalore-Mysore Road, and at Hardinge Circle.

"The first among the series of the illuminated maps to dot the city was unveiled by the Minister of State for Labour, Tanvir Sait, at Hardinge Circle on Tuesday evening," the Commissioner said.

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