We will head to Ramnagaram, a small town located 50 KMs from Bangalore. The year was 1780 when Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore, received Silk as a gift from an ambassador of the Qing dynasty in China. Fascinated by this magical fabric, Tipu sent emissaries to Bengal and China to find out more and eventually sets up 22 Silk Breeding stations which kick off the Mysore Silk revolution. Ramnagaram is famous today for its silk industry and receives 50 tons of silk cocoons every day making it Asia’s largest silk cocoon market. We will visit the Government Silk Cocoon Market and if lucky we can even witness an auction!

The next fillip for Mysore Silk came in 1912 when Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV bought 32 power looms from Switzerland and set up the Mysore Silk Weaving factory. Over the years not only did the factory cloth the royal family but also made parachutes for British army during the World War II! The factory is operational even today and we will visit it. It’s a fascinating experience to see the process of Silk production from reeling of cocoon to the weaving of silk fabric. We will visit the factory showroom to see an amazing collection of Silk Sarees which is the finished product from the Mysore Silk Weaving factory.Silk Sarees are a cultural icon in South India. Ranging in length from 6-9 yards, these Sarees are worn by women during auspicious occasions like a wedding or a birthday.

The grand Mysore Palace is our next destination. We will travel back to the golden era of Mysore Maharajas to imagine the glory that was Mysore, epitomized by this wonder built in Indo-Saracenic style with a blend of Hindu, Muslim, Rajput, and Gothic styles of architecture. The Palace is a three-storied stone structure, with marble domes and a 145 ft five-storied tower.

Next in our tour to Mysore, we visit Devraja market, the charming old bazaar of Mysore. Its a sensorial delight made up of flowers, vegetables, fruits, jaggery, onions and potatoes, puffed rice and coconuts!