Mysore Palace

Mysore Palace, also called Amba Vilas Palace, is the former royal residence of the Wadiyar dynasty in Mysuru, Karnataka, a three-storey Indo-Saracenic building of grey granite crowned by domes and a gilded central tower. The Wadiyars ruled the Kingdom of Mysore for most of the five centuries before 1947, and the palace was the seat of their court in the final decades of the kingdom.

The present Mysore Palace replaced an older wooden palace that burned down in 1896. The regent queen commissioned the British architect Henry Irwin to design a new one, and it was completed in 1912, mixing Hindu, Islamic, Rajput and Gothic features. Every autumn the palace hosts Mysuru Dasara, when the goddess Chamundeshwari is carried in a golden howdah on an elephant in the Jamboo Savari procession, and on Sunday evenings the whole facade is lit with close to 100,000 bulbs.

What to see

• The Kalyana Mantapa, the octagonal wedding hall under a stained glass ceiling patterned with peacocks, lined with paintings of the Dasara procession
• The Public Durbar Hall, a long open gallery of carved pillars and painted ceilings looking out towards Chamundi Hills
• The Ambavilasa private hall, with carved rosewood doors inlaid with ivory
• Small temples inside the palace fort, including the Sri Swetha Varahaswamy Temple
• The evening illumination on Sundays and public holidays, seen from the palace grounds

What to wear

Shoes come off before you enter the palace, at a counter near the entrance, so wear sandals that slip on and off. Modest clothing covering shoulders and knees suits the palace and the temples in its grounds. Mysuru has a mild climate, but the forecourt is shadeless, so bring a hat and water in the dry months. Mysuru is known for Mysore silk sarees woven with gold zari, and for the Mysore peta, the formal turban men wear at weddings and ceremonies.

Local food to try

Mysore pak is said to have been first made in the palace kitchens; the sweet shops around Devaraja Market on Sayyaji Rao Road sell it fresh. Mysore masala dosa, spread with red chutney, and the soft, butter-topped dosas served in the old tiffin rooms of Nazarbad are the breakfast to look for. Mysore bonda and filter coffee make an easy afternoon snack. The city has a strong vegetarian tradition, so vegetarian travellers from Singapore will eat very well.

Good to know

• Best time: October to February, early in the day; Dasara in September or October is spectacular but very crowded
• Open daily 10am to 5:30pm; illumination on Sundays and public holidays, roughly 7pm to 8pm
• Entry ticket at the gate, with a higher rate for foreign visitors
• Allow one and a half to two hours inside, plus the evening illumination if you can
• Mysore Palace is in central Mysuru, about 145 km or three hours by road from Bengaluru
• Photography is not allowed inside the palace buildings; the grounds and facade are fine

Nearby places

Mysuru is the usual base for a drive west into the coffee hills of Coorg, about 120 km away, or south through the forests to Ooty. For the older story of the region, the Vijayanagara ruins at Hampi are a longer overland trip to the north.