An Unforgettable Experience Walking Inside the Mysore Maharaja Palace

During our one-day trip to Mysuru on 17th Dec 2023 our first stop was at Srirangapatna. As it was Dhanur Masam we visited Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple and had the divine darshan of Sri Ranganatha Swamy and Sri Ranganayaki. From here we stopped at a local hotel and had light food as it was around 2 p.m. Our next visit was to Sri Chamundeshwari temple and felt blessed to have the darshan of Sri Chamundi Devi. We then rushed to Mysore Maharaja Palace and reached the place at around 4.30 p.m. Hardly one hour time was left with us to see inside the Royal Palace as the visitors are not allowed to stay inside the Palace after 6 p.m.

We had a wonderful experience at Mysore Maharaja Palace. As it was Sunday the Palace was heavily crowded with visitors. Earlier in 2008 when we visited the Palace, I remember, we moved inside the Palace freely but the visitors have to walk in barricaded lines.

As it was almost 5 p.m. we rushed into the Palace after leaving our chappals at the specified counter. On stepping inside the Royal Palace, we were amazed at richness of the Royal beauty. We were much attracted with the intricate fine carvings on the the pillars of the Mandapas or halls and the wooden doors and we couldn't stop ourselves appreciating those unknown artisans and craftsmen for their fine skilled works.
We walked through the corridors and marvelous Mandapas or halls. We then entered the Durbar hall or the reception hall which has rows of carved pillars that gave a gorgeous look.
We then walked through the galleries that displayed the potraits of the Wadiyars lineage and the exhibits of the fine collections of artefacts by the Wadiyar Kings.
In the above pic you can see the silver collections that were gifted to the Wadiyar Kings by various kings. In another room we could few silver chairs of the Royal family and in the middle there is an ivory artefact made of elephant tusks. We came to know from some local people that the Wadiyar kings were fond of hunting.
As we walked through the rooms and corridors we saw heavy crowd at a place where people were busy taking snaps and selfies. On reaching the spot, we saw the pure gold covered pavilion or the Golden Howdah which is used to carry Chamundi Devi during Dasara procession.
We walked admiring the embellished carved wooden doors, silver doors and the fine collection of sculptures and artefacts of the Wadiyars. The architecture inside the palace is a combination of Gothic, Mughal, Persian and Hindu styles. The Persian carpets, Gothic style chandeliars, lamps with statues and glass paintings. Moving on through the barricaded line, we came across the life-size statue of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV seated on a chair, the founder of the palace. The statue is made of plaster of paris.

Walking inside palace, we could see lifeless mounted head of an elephant with long tusks at few places. By the time we were finishing our walk inside the Royal Palace, we could hear the whistles indicating the visitors to move out of the palace as it was palace closure time. We could manage to complete our round inside the palace by 6 p.m and finally stepped out of the palace. As I am interested in collecting local handicrafts, we went inside the gift shop and bought a small model of the palace and few sandalwood items.

We then strolled outside the palace waiting to see the lighting of the palace which takes place at 7 p.m. After taking few snaps and videos of the illuminated palace, we had light dinner in a local hotel and were back to our hotel room in Bengaluru.

We were so tired that with great difficulty we refreshed and jumped into the bed and within no time we went into sound sleep.