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.
The Wodeyars' ten-day Navaratri festival, kept since 1610, first at Srirangapatna and in Mysuru from 1799. The palace is lit every night, and on Vijayadashami the Jamboo Savari carries the goddess Chamundeshwari in a golden howdah on an elephant to Bannimantap, followed by an evening torchlight parade.
September or October; check the year's dates. Seat passes for the palace and the torchlight parade sell out, so book early through the official Dasara site, or stand on the route hours ahead. Hotels fill and prices rise.