Mysuru: The three-day weekend holiday rush that had gripped the city is slowly returning to normalcy, which is likely to pick up again as tourists from other parts of the State and country will descend in droves to ring in the new year.

Mysuru Zoo, one of the major attractions is open today though it is a weekly holiday and will be open next Tuesday (Jan.2) too. It had witnessed a huge rush in the last three days and today by afternoon 8,000 people had visited it. The Mysuru Palace again was a beehive of activity as tourists thronged the famed architectural marvel with more than 13,986 tourists visiting it by this noon. Yesterday 31,235 people visited, on Sunday, it was 34,783 and on Saturday, there was 26,500 footfalls.

In the evenings, as part of the ten-day Mysuru Winter Festival, people are coming in large numbers to enjoy the music concerts and other attractions.

Meanwhile, Mysuru Zoo earned a neat sum of Rs.21 lakh on Christmas Eve, it being a Sunday added to the rush. The number of visitors on Dec.24 doubled to 40,223 when compared to last year, which was 20,596, and the revenue generated was Rs.21,76,250.

The total number of visitors to the Palace in the year 2017 (as on Dec.24) was 33,24,454, while it was slightly higher last year at 35,67,940.

Heritage Bicycle Ride

As part of the Mysuru Winter Festival, a three-day Heritage Bicycle Ride was flagged off this morning by Deputy Director of Tourism H.P. Janardhan at the Town Hall premises. The event jointly organised by the District Administration, Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage, Tourism Department and MCC saw nearly 60 registered bicycle riders on  Trin Trin bicycles being taken on a guided tour of many heritage places.

Prof. N. S. Rangaraju who is one of the resource persons speaking to Star of Mysore said that the response was very encouraging as many college students and a few public were curious to know about the rich cultural heritage of the city. “Most of them were keen to learn about Kautilya’s Arthashastra at Oriental Research Institute and about who built and donated money to Crawford Hall, as also about James Gordon whose statue is in front of the DC Office.”  The participants were presented with caps and served breakfast.