Chamundi Hills attract record visitors

A major tourist centre, Mysore's top attraction continues to be the Chamundi Hills, where tourists and pilgrims alike throng to worship Mysore's presiding deity.

It attracted over 77.42 lakh people between January and October 2006 and surpassed the 2005 record of 70.74 lakh. As against this, 35.03 lakh tourists visited the sacred hills in 2004.

The second major draw of tourists is the famous Brindavan Gardens (Krishnarajasagar), 16 km from Mysore. Between January and August, 17.86 lakh tourists visited the gardens to witness the colourful illumination of fountains and the musical fountain. The figures for September and October are yet to be made available.

However, the flow of tourists in 2005 was comparatively better, 21.28 lakh. In 2004, KRS attracted a larger number of tourists, 22.94 lakh. The lowest recorded number was in 2002 when only 9.82 lakh came to see the gardens, while the number in 2003 was 18.44 lakh.

The next major attraction for tourists has been the magnificent Maharaja's Palace. A total of 19.50 lakh tourists visited the palace between January-October. This number is a record over the previous years "� 2005: 18 lakh, 2004: 18.32 lakh: 16.46 lakh and 2002: 14.19 lakh.

With a wide range of wild animals and birds, the Chamarajendra Zoo Gardens drew around 15 lakh tourists during the 10 months, while 16.45 lakh tourists visited the zoo in 2005, 15.30 lakh in 2004, 16 lakh in 2003 and 11.92 lakh in 2002.

The least popular of the five major tourists spots was Jaganmohan Palace, which houses the collection of artifacts of the Mysore royal family of Wodeyars.

During the 10 months, the art gallery attracted just about 2.07 lakh tourists. The previous year's figures stood at: 2005: 2,38,211, 2004: 2,29,892, 2003: 2,14,797 and 2002: over 1.97 lakh.