The New Year was approaching and we were ready to welcome the New Year in a grand way and the grandness remains incomplete without traveling, you know! Made a lightning quick plan in the morning of 31st Dec, 2017- we were going to Mysore to witness the New Year amidst the grandeur and royal elegance.
Since it was a quick and random plan, we were a bit confused to choose the mode of travel as availability of train or bus tickets were very limited that time. Finally, we decided to go by the regular bus from Bangalore. We started at around 1PM in the afternoon from Bangalore and reached Majestic Satellite Bus Stop at around 2PM only to find a bus for Mysore which was about to leave the depot. We hurriedly got on the bus as we had to reach Mysore as early as possible.
We had the plan to reach Mysore by seven in the evening as it was a Sunday (on Sundays the Mysore Palace is fully illuminated with spectacular lighting). Our bus reached Mysore at around 7:15 PM. We booked a hotel right near the Mysore Palace and after checking into the hotel, we quickly went to the palace ground to watch the beautiful palace in its full-glow. We were already a bit late as a result of which we could spend hardly 15 minutes before the lights went off for the evening.
We were upset as we could not spend much time watching the palace glow in the evening lights. We had planned of taking pictures of the palace from different angles which again we could not do properly. Moreover, it was the New Year and we thought this was going to be the worst New Year eve as there was nothing much to do after this. Just when we were heading back to our hotel, we heard people around saying there was something big scheduled to happen from 10 PM in the palace garden area. We asked a few people and volunteers who confirmed that there would be a grand celebration in the palace ground from 10 PM onward and the palace would be fully lit up again.
We were overwhelmed with joy! We quickly had our dinner after getting back into the hotel and got ready to witness the royal celebration. We went to the palace premises at 10 PM sharp and we watched the palace getting brighter and brighter with each passing minute.
People were thronging into the palace ground in large numbers. The organizers were all geared up. The Karnataka Police Band’s performance was also in full swing with the sound of huge trumpets and drums turning the place into a fairy-tale setting. There were also a giant screen and a huge digital countdown clock installed in front of the palace. The palace looked so beautiful and gorgeous from all angles.
It was 11:55. We had no idea what was going to happen next. The countdown clock hit zero and to our great surprise, the midnight sky lit up in beautiful colors of fireworks. People cheered “Happy New Year” amidst hugs of congratulations and wishes for a happy new year ahead. The fireworks went on for 20 minutes straight.
The sky looked so gorgeous; we could not take off our eyes from the spectacular show even for a second. The unusual, hasty New Year plan and then waiting for the show for two long hours- Totally worth it! This was one of the best New Year eves spent during our stay in Bangalore and it’s going to stay in our memories for a long, long time.
The next day, we did some local sightseeing in Mysore. We will cover in a separate blog post which all places you can visit in Mysore in a one-day tour. Keep watching!
