South India’s City of Palaces – Mysore!, Mysore, India

Who hasn’t heard of the Mysore Palace or the Mysore Zoo or the Mysore Dusserah? For most South Indians, if not all, these are places/events of interest that they would’ve grown up hearing about and/or experiencing it. For a lot of Bangaloreans, Mysore was like a summer holiday destination almost every school holiday season. The last time I visited Mysore for travel purposes was nearly three decades ago. Those were the days when school trips meant a day trip to the Mysore Zoo and Mysore Palace. Never did I imagine I’d be in love with the city as much as I was when I spent 5 days here earlier this month.

Yes it’s called the city of palaces for a reason that Mysore has seven of them. These might not date back to thousands of years back but still makes for some amazing ancient structures. The most prominent of the lot being the Amba Vilas Palace, also known as the world famous Mysore Palace. The grandeur of this palace particularly on the inside is just amazing. The exterior is quite exquisite too but it’s the interiors that make you go wow. The other notable palaces being the Lalitha Mahal Palace, which is now used as a hotel and the Jaganmohan Palace, which is now an art gallery. In my opinion however, ever other building in the city, from the government college to the commissioner’s office, from the Radisson Blu Hotel to that Temple next to the art gallery, each one looks like a palace on its own. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).