Legend for its connection with renowned warrior kings Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, Mysore city holds fast to its glamorous past with its stunning palace, royal architecture, and festivity traditions.

Mysore Palace, one of India’s most visited living palaces, offers an amazing window into the crafting skills of the local artisans in terms of inlay work, stonework and paintings; even just the part that is open to the public is a fabulous showcase that will reverberate in your memory for long. A perfect example is the beautiful rosewood doorway with ivory inlay work from the corridor linking the main durbar hall with Ambavilasa. The beauty of Mysore inlay work is in the extent of detailing and intricacy of patterns.

While at the magnificent palace, feast your eyes on the grand Darbar Hall, the Kalyana Mantapa, the jewel-encrusted Golden Throne (on display during Dasara only) and the Golden Howdah. Browse around the Residential Museum for a glut of greater insights into that past world. Take a wander of the lanes and ancient bylanes where Mysore’s artisans have plied their crafts for generations.

The 125-year old Devraja Market, named after Raja Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar, offers us much food for thought. Literally and figuratively speaking. It summons up exotic images of the city’s golden past, and the rich atmospherics offer excellent photops for even a novice photographer. The Wodeyars are intrinsically linked to that popular sweetmeat Mysore Pak created in the royal kitchen but now freely available all over town!

The Wodeyar’s have long been connected to the flamboyant annual Dasara festivities devoted to the Goddess Chamundeeswari. If you are in town at the time, don’t miss the fabulous cultural showcase of those 10-day long festivities. The centrepiece is, of course, the magnificent procession in the city of the goddess Bhuvaneswari, the patron deity of Karnataka, mounted atop a caparisoned elephant.

Head out of town to Srirangapatna, set on a river island. This erstwhile summer capital of Tipu Sultan offers insights on the famous Anglo-Mysore Wars that were fought in this region— and the ruler’s connections to the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, and the Battle of Waterloo.