Mysuru kept what other cities lost: its palace lit by a hundred thousand bulbs, its silk and sandalwood trades, and the memory of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan, who nearly stopped the Company here.
1399
The Wodeyars
A chieftain's line takes Mysore.
1761
Haidar Ali
The commander seizes the state.
1799
Srirangapatna
Tipu falls defending his island capital.
1881
Rendition
The Wodeyars return as model princes.
Built in 1861 as a royal residence, used as the Wodeyars' durbar hall while the main palace was rebuilt after the 1897 fire, and now a gallery of Raja Ravi Varma oils and court portraits.
Look for Haldankar's 'Glow of Hope' (Lady with the Lamp).
90 min
Home of novelist R.K. Narayan, acquired by Mysuru City Corporation in 2011 and opened as a museum in 2016, displaying his desk, awards and Malgudi Days memorabilia.
Small and quiet; read a Malgudi story beforehand.
45 min
An open-air railway museum with the Maharani's saloon carriage of 1899 and steam locomotives.
Closed Mondays; good with children.
60 min
Over 200 years old, this building housed Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, during 1799–1801 while he administered Mysore after Tipu Sultan's fall; it is now a tribal heritage museum.
Rarely crowded.
45 min
Artworks made from seashells, corals and pearls by artist Radha Mallappa, assembled from shells collected across decades.
Combine with the Chamundi Hill visit.
45 min