Mysore Palace

The Wadiyar dynasty made Mysuru its seat from the fourteenth century, and a succession of palaces stood on this site. According to Karnataka Tourism, the wooden palace was destroyed by fire during a royal wedding in 1897. Maharani Vani Vilas Sannidhana, ruling as regent for the young Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, commissioned a new palace in stone.

Designed by the British architect Henry Irwin, the present building was constructed between 1897 and 1912 in the Indo-Saracenic style, mixing Hindu, Islamic, Rajput and Gothic elements; a further extension was added in 1940. The three-storey palace has a five-storey tower about 145 feet high. Today it draws several million visitors a year, and it remains the focal point of the Mysuru Dasara, a royal festival tradition celebrated here since at least the early nineteenth century.

Mysuru is known for its silk, sandalwood, incense and jasmine, and the palace remains a symbol of the city's royal heritage and the focus of Dasara celebrations.The Devaraja Market nearby is a riot of flowers, spices and coloured kumkum powder, and the city's food ranges from Mysore pak, a rich gram-flour sweet, to masala dosa. Mysuru also has a sizeable Muslim community, and mosques and halal eateries are found in the old city.