Mysore Travel Guide: Palace, Silk & Sandalwood | India

Mysore sits at 770 meters elevation on the Deccan Plateau in Karnataka, 146 kilometers southwest of Bangalore along National Highway 275. The city served as capital of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1399 until Indian independence in 1947, when the last ruling Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar acceded the princely state to the Indian Union. The 2011 census recorded 920,550 residents within city limits, expanding to approximately 1.28 million in the metropolitan area. Mysore derives from Mahishuru, meaning "abode of Mahisha," referencing the buffalo demon killed by the goddess Chamundeshwari atop Chamundi Hill, which rises 1,065 meters directly east of the city center.

The Mysore Palace dominates the urban core from a 72-acre complex surrounded by fortification walls rebuilt in granite after Tipu Sultan razed the original wooden structure in 1793. The current palace, completed in 1912, represents the fourth iteration on this site. British architect Henry Irwin designed the structure in Indo-Saracenic style, combining Hindu, Islamic, Rajput, and Gothic elements after fire destroyed the previous wooden palace in 1897. The three-story stone building extends 245 feet in length and 156 feet in width, centered on a five-story tower reaching 145 feet that supports a gilded dome weighing 280 kilograms. Construction consumed 97,000 kilograms of steel, sourced from Scottish foundries and transported by rail to Mysore. The palace cost 4.5 million rupees to build, funded directly from the Mysore royal treasury under Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, who personally supervised architectural decisions and material selection.

Interior rooms total 145 across three floors, connected by corridors inlaid with Italian marble in geometric patterns. The Kalyana Mantapa, or marriage hall, occupies the palace's central position beneath the main dome, measuring 47 meters in length. Cast-iron pillars support the octagonal ceiling, painted with images from the Dasara festival by artist S.N. Swamy between 1938 and 1940. Stained glass imported from Glasgow in 1907 fills 26 window panels depicting mythological narratives from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Durbar Hall extends 82 feet by 52 feet on the palace's eastern wing, where maharajas held public audiences until 1950. Teak ceiling panels carved by Thanjavur craftsmen in 1909 display floral and geometric motifs across 780 square feet. The throne platform, called the Ratna Sihasana, weighs 280 kilograms and stands on eight pillars of solid silver, though the throne itself remains displayed only during the ten-day Dasara festival each autumn. The current palace houses a museum administered by the Mysore Palace Board, established by the Karnataka state government in 1998. Annual visitor numbers reached 6.2 million in 2019, making it the second-most visited monument in India after the Taj Mahal.

Dasara celebrations in Mysore date to 1610, when Raja Wadiyar I instituted a ten-day festival honoring the goddess Chamundeshwari. The contemporary festival spans late September to early October, concluding on Vijayadashami, the tenth lunar day of the Hindu month Ashvina. Festivities center on nightly illumination of the palace with 97,000 incandescent bulbs outlining the building's facade and domes between 7 PM and 8 PM. The final day features the Jumbo Savari procession, in which a male elephant carries a 750-kilogram golden howdah containing an idol of Chamundeshwari along a 5.5-kilometer route from the palace to Bannimantap parade ground. Approximately 50 decorated elephants, 400 dancers, and 800 musicians participate in the procession, which draws an estimated 1.2 million spectators annually. The tradition of using elephants in Dasara processions began under Krishnaraja Wadiyar III in 1811. The lead elephant for 2023 was Abhimanyu, a 54-year-old male weighing 5,400 kilograms, selected by the Karnataka Forest Department based on temperament and physical capability to bear the howdah's weight for four hours without rest.

Mysore silk production operates from the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation factory in Ashokapuram, established in 1912 as Mysore Government Silk Weaving Factory. The facility employs 580 weavers across two production units spanning 14 acres. Mysore silk uses pure mulberry silk thread reeled from cocoons of Bombyx mori silkworms raised on government-managed sericultural farms in Chamarajanagar, Mandya, and Mysore districts. A single silk sari requires 2,400 meters of silk thread and 22 days of handloom weaving by two trained artisans. The Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation produces approximately 8,500 silk saris annually, each weighing between 400 and 800 grams depending on thread count and zari content. Zari refers to metallic thread traditionally made from flattened gold or silver wire wound around a silk core, though contemporary production primarily uses copper-plated synthetic alternatives. Traditional Mysore silk saris use contrasting borders and pallus, with the body woven in one color and edges in gold zari with complementary silk. The factory maintains 450 active handlooms, though mechanized powerlooms introduced in 1980 now produce 60 percent of total output. Retail prices for handloom Mysore silk saris range from 6,000 to 65,000 rupees as of 2024, determined by thread weight, zari percentage, and design complexity.

Sandalwood harvesting in Karnataka operates under monopoly of the state Forest Department, established by the Mysore Sandalwood Protection Act of 1916. Santalum album, the species producing fragrant heartwood, requires 30 years of growth before heartwood develops sufficient oil concentration for commercial extraction. Trees reach harvest maturity at 40 to 60 years, when heartwood comprises 20 to 30 percent of total trunk volume. The Forest Department conducts controlled auctions of harvested sandalwood logs three times annually at the Government Sandalwood Depot in Mysore, located on Manandavadi Road. Heartwood logs sold at the November 2023 auction averaged 16,800 rupees per kilogram, with premium grade timber from trees aged 60 years or older reaching 24,000 rupees per kilogram. Karnataka accounts for approximately 85 percent of sandalwood production in India, with Mysore district containing the highest concentration of naturally occurring Santalum album forests in the Biligiri Rangaswamy Hills, 95 kilometers southeast of Mysore city.

The Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited factory, established in 1916 as Government Soap Factory, operates from Ashokapuram adjacent to the silk weaving facility. The plant manufactures Mysore Sandal Soap using sandalwood oil extracted from heartwood chips at the attached distillation unit. Production capacity totals 4,800 metric tons of sandalwood soap annually across three manufacturing lines. Each 125-gram soap bar contains 2.5 grams of pure sandalwood oil and 12 grams of palm oil base. The distillation unit processes 180 metric tons of sandalwood heartwood chips annually, yielding approximately 3,600 liters of essential oil with santalol content averaging 92 percent. Steam distillation occurs in copper vessels at 100 degrees Celsius for 72 hours to extract oil from wood chips ground to 2-millimeter particle size. Mysore Sandal Soap retails at 35 rupees for the 125-gram bar as of 2024, with the company operating 2,800 authorized retail outlets across India and export operations to 22 countries. Annual revenue reached 2.4 billion rupees in fiscal year 2022-2023.

Chamundi Hill rises 13 kilometers southeast of Mysore Palace via a paved road with 13 hairpin turns. The summit temple dedicated to goddess Chamundeshwari occupies a site used for worship since at least the 12th century, with the current structure built during the reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar III between 1827 and 1829. A seven-tier gopuram gateway tower stands 40 meters tall at the temple entrance, completed in 1982. Stone steps numbering 1,008 provide pedestrian access from the hill's base, a route constructed in 1659 under Dodda Devaraja Wadiyar. A 4.8-meter-tall monolithic statue of Nandi, Shiva's mount, sits on the hillside at step number 700, carved from single granite block in 1659. The Nandi measures 7.6 meters in length and 4.2 meters in width, decorated with bells and garlands replaced weekly by temple authorities. The hill provides unobstructed views across Mysore city and the Chamundi Hills range extending southwest toward the Nilgiri Hills, visible 90 kilometers distant on clear mornings between November and February.

Devaraja Market operates from a two-story building on Sayyaji Rao Road, constructed in 1886 under Maharaja Chamaraja Wadiyar IX. The market occupies 30,000 square feet across 800 vendor stalls, opening daily from 6 AM to 9 PM except Tuesdays. Flower vendors concentrate in the western hall, selling jasmine, marigold, and tuberose by weight for temple offerings and hair adornment. Jasmine sells for 200 to 400 rupees per kilogram depending on seasonal availability, with peak supply from October through March. Vegetable vendors occupy the eastern hall, displaying eggplant, okra, beans, and gourds in woven bamboo baskets. Spice merchants sell turmeric root, dried chilies, coriander seeds, and cardamom pods in burlap sacks, with Coorg cardamom from estates in neighboring Kodagu district priced at 1,800 rupees per kilogram in December 2023. Banana vendors stack varieties including Robusta, Nendran, and Poovan in tiered displays, sourced from farms within 40 kilometers of Mysore in Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts. The market's cast-iron columns support wooden ceiling beams installed during original construction, with structural repairs completed in 2018 by the Mysore City Corporation.

St. Philomena's Cathedral stands 28 meters tall on Cathedral Road, designed by French architect Daly in neo-Gothic style and completed in 1941 after 40 years of construction. The building measures 54 meters in length and holds 800 worshippers across a nave and two aisles. Twin spires rise 53 meters, modeled on Cologne Cathedral in Germany, topped with crosses visible from 3 kilometers. Stained glass windows manufactured in Paris in 1936 depict stations of the cross in 38 panels. The cathedral contains a relic of Saint Philomena, a third-century martyr, placed beneath the main altar in a catacomb structure added in 1952. The Mysore Diocese of the Catholic Church administers the cathedral, which serves a parish of approximately 12,000 registered members as of 2020.

The Railway Museum occupies a 2-hectare site near Mysore Junction station, established in 1979 by Indian Railways. The outdoor exhibition displays 18 locomotives and 12 coaches spanning 1899 to 1965, including a Garrett-type articulated locomotive built in Manchester in 1928 weighing 138 tons. Interior galleries house 5,000 artifacts including signaling equipment, station clocks, and vintage tickets. A narrow-gauge track runs 400 meters around the museum perimeter, offering 15-minute rides on a restored 1922 steam engine every weekend. The museum opens daily except Monday from 10 AM to 5:30 PM, with entry priced at 50 rupees for adults.

Mysore lies within the South Western Railway zone, connected to Bangalore by 12 daily train services covering 139 kilometers in 2.5 to 3 hours depending on service class. Shatabdi Express completes the route in 2 hours at a maximum speed of 110 kilometers per hour, departing Bangalore at 11 AM and reaching Mysore at 1 PM. Mysore Airport, located 10 kilometers south in Mandakalli, operates domestic flights to Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kochi on SpiceJet and Star Air carriers, with the runway extended to 2,500 meters in 2010 to accommodate Airbus A320 aircraft. The nearest international airport operates from Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore, 170 kilometers northeast via National Highway 275, with highway travel time averaging 3.5 hours by private vehicle.