Palaces, lights and action

The city of Mysore continues to attract visitors with its Dusherra festivities.

If there’s one place where you should be tomorrow evening, it is Mysore. The city has had a longstanding tradition of celebrating Vijaydashami. The Dusherra festivities were first started by the Vijayanagar kings in the 15th century. Later, Raja Wodeyar I continued the celebrations and made sure that the entire Mysore Palace was lit up for 10 days leading up to the day of Vijaydashami.

That tradition continues even today and, in fact, makes the city of Mysore one of the major attractions for tourists who come from all over the world to witness the lighting spectacle of the palace.

There’s a special procession of decorated elephants, camels and horses which is carried out on the streets of Mysore even today. The royal family worships goddess Chamundeshwari on this day. If you happen to be in Mysore for the festive season, the Chamundi temple, located atop the Chamundi hill in Mysore, is definitely worth visiting. The procession to the temple is what makes the event even more fascinating and includes colourful tableaux, lots of traditional music and dances performed by local groups of dancers and musicians. Speaking of traditions, wrestling matches were introduced as part of Dusherra celebrations in the 16th century. It continues even today and if you’re in Mysore for Dusherra, you’ll be there to witness many such matches.

Another attraction in Mysore at Dusherra time is the exhibition which is held in the exhibition grounds near the main palace. You’ll find a lot of rural crafts here, including Mysore style of paintings, traditional Mysore silk sarees and products in various other categories. In fact, typical to Mysore is the inlay work done in rosewood. Our suggestion: Pick up little boxes in rosewood- and sandalwood-inlay work for your relatives and friends.

A tour to the City of Palaces is incomplete without visiting Amba Vilas (the main palace), Jaganmohan Palace (now converted into an art gallery) Rajendra Vilas (the royal family’s summer palace), Lalitha Mahal (now a heritage hotel property) and Jayalakshmi Vilas. The art gallery at Jaganmohan Palace includes, besides works of other artists, paintings by Raja Ravi Varma. Other exhibits here include weapons of war, musical instruments, sculptures, brassware, antiques coins and currencies.