Mysuru palace had relatively fewer tourists on Friday due to Karnataka Bandh called to protest release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. | Photo Credit: M.A. SRIRAM
Places of tourist interest in and around Mysuru which tend to be swarming with visitors appeared deserted on Friday due to the Karnataka Bandh called by various organisations to protest the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
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Tourism is one of the main economic drivers of the region as Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar and Kodagu are replete with places of historical interest and scenic beauty.
The main attraction is the Mysuru palace which draws nearly 3.5 million tourists every year, among the highest in the State. But advance publicity given to the Karnataka Bandh and the continuing agitations over the Cauvery issue has led to a gradual reduction in tourists’ footfall. The declining trend was visible when the weekend tourist numbers also plummeted as the Cauvery issue gained traction.
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The tourism sector in Mysuru is fueled by domestic visitors with a sizeable number of them coming from Tamil Nadu and Kerala while a majority of the visitors tend to be from Bengaluru and rest of Karnataka and other places in India. But in view of the bandh, the trips have either been cancelled or postponed and there mass cancellations of hotel accommodation.
The fortunes of tourism sector in the historic town of Srirangapatna are linked to Mysuru due to its proximity to the city. The cascading impact of the drop in visitors to Mysuru was also felt in Srirangapatana where most of the monuments wore a deserted appearance. The Tipu’s Summer Palace or the Dariya Daulat tend to attract not less than 1,200 to 1,500 visitors on weekends and holidays and about 800 to 1000 tourists during lean days. But there were hardly any visitors on Friday due to the bandh and local guides said that the footfall was around 100 at noon.
Further down, the scenario was similar at Gumbaz while the vendors at Sangam where the two branches of the Cauvery meet, bemoaned that there was not a single visitor. “We have opened the stalls only in the hope of earning some money to pay of the monthly rent which is steep”, said a lady running the tea stall. At the Keshava temple at Somanathapur which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mysuru district, there were about a handful of tourists most of whom were locals from nearby places. As a result, the accredited guides called it a day and returned home.
However, the footfall at a few places of worship was normal despite the bandh and this included the mosque at Gumbaz in Srirangapatana and Chamundeshwari temple atop the Chamundi Hills in Mysuru.