The palace you see is the fourth on the site — the previous one burned down during a wedding in 1897, and the Wadiyars commissioned Henry Irwin to replace it. What he built is Indo-Saracenic at full volume: grey granite and pink marble domes outside, and inside a Kalyana Mandapa roofed with a stained-glass peacock dome shipped from Glasgow.
It is the second most visited monument in India after the Taj, and the reason is partly the building and partly the switch. On Sunday evenings and through the ten nights of Dasara, close to a hundred thousand bulbs outline every arch and dome of the facade at once. It should be vulgar. It is not.
Visiting Well
- Open daily; shoes are left at the entrance and cameras are not permitted inside the palace rooms.
- The illumination runs on Sunday evenings and on public holidays, and nightly through Dasara — worth planning an overnight around.
- Dasara itself, in September or October, fills the city; rooms need booking a long way out.
How Elevated India Arranges It
We take the interiors on a weekday morning when the DurbarDurbarThe court of an Indian ruler — and, by extension, the hall in which he gave audience, or the grand ceremonial assembly held there.Read in the glossary Hall is quiet enough to look up properly, then return for the Sunday illumination from the garden side rather than the road, where the crowd is thinner and the whole facade is in view at once.
Questions, Answered
When is Mysore Palace lit up?
Sunday evenings and public holidays, and every night during the ten days of Dasara. Close to a hundred thousand bulbs outline the facade for roughly an hour — it is the single thing most visitors remember.
Can you take photographs inside Mysore Palace?
No — cameras and phones are not permitted inside the palace rooms and are deposited at the entrance along with shoes. Photography of the exterior and the grounds is unrestricted.
Journeys That Take You There
Grand Southern Sanctuary: A 16-Day Karnataka & Kerala Luxury Journey
16 Days / 15 Nights
The Quiet End of Kerala
15 Days / 14 Nights
Explore the destination guide: Mysuru, Karnataka ↗