Venue
Sayyaji Rao Road, Mysuru, Karnataka 570001, India
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Mysuru Dasara (Mysore Dussehra) guide
Jamboo Savari through Mysuru.
In short
Mysuru Dasara runs ten days through Navaratri to Vijayadashami, estimated at 1 to 10 October 2027 until Mysuru confirms dates. It suits travellers wanting a royal Hindu festival with the illuminated palace, concerts and Kusti wrestling. The Jamboo Savari elephant procession on the final day draws the biggest crowds, so plan seats and rooms early.
Mysuru Dasara is Karnataka's state festival: ten days of Navaratri worship, music and royal ritual that end on Vijayadashami with the Jamboo Savari, when an elephant carries the goddess Chamundeshwari in a golden howdah through the city. The Wadiyar family has kept the festival going since 1610.
For a city of its size, Mysuru puts on an outsized show. Close to 100,000 bulbs outline Mysore Palace after dark, concerts and dance fill stages across town, and wrestlers arrive from all over India for the traditional Kusti bouts.
It is also one of the few Hindu festivals where a former royal house still takes the lead. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar performs the palace rites, and the royal couple worship the goddess before the procession leaves, a living link to the old kingdom of Mysore.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Ends: Sunday, 10 October 2027
Where: Mysuru, India
Venue: Mysore Palace
Held: Every year
Type of event: Cultural Events, Religious Festivals, Parade
Currency: Indian rupee (INR, ₹)
Time zone: India Standard Time, UTC+5:30
Language: Hindi, English and 20 other scheduled languages
Map
Close to the venue
- Mysore Palace Attraction · 180 m
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Watching the Jamboo Savari from the roadside
If you have no seat pass, you will be watching from the roadside with a very large crowd. Claim your spot hours before the afternoon start, and treat it as a long, hot wait.
- Carry water, a hat and snacks; leaving your place usually means losing it.
- Keep children on the inside, away from the barriers, and agree on a meeting point in case you get separated.
- Do not try to touch, feed or follow the elephants. They are working animals in a noisy crowd.
- Keep valuables in a front pocket; tight crowds suit pickpockets.
Dress and conduct at Chamundeshwari Temple
The Chamundeshwari temple is a working shrine, and the festival opens with worship there. Dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered, and leave your shoes at the stand before entering.
Regular entry has cost about 30 rupees, with a VIP ticket at about 100 rupees letting you skip the queue, which is worth it during festival week. Follow the signs and the priests' instructions on photography.
The drone ban and photographing the illuminations
Drones are banned within 1 km of the Bannimantap air show venue. Leave yours at the hotel for the whole week to avoid trouble.
For palace illumination photographs, a small tripod helps, but set it up where it does not block the people behind you. The lights come on at 7 pm; the first few minutes, as the outline appears, are the moment most people wait for.
Using prepaid auto counters
Mysuru's autos are meant to use the meter, but drivers around the railway station and palace often refuse during festival week. The prepaid counters at the railway station and the City Bus Stand charge a token fee of one rupee and save the haggling. If a driver will not budge, a traffic police officer can often help settle a fair price.
Where and how it is celebrated
The main cities where the festival is celebrated.
Mysore Palace and Bannimantap
What happens on the day
- Opening day, late morning
Inauguration on Chamundi Hill
In 2026 at 11:50am, with worship of Goddess Chamundeshwari.
- Opening day, evening
Palace lights switched on
At 6:30pm in 2026.
- Every evening, from 19:00
Palace illumination
- Daytime
Flower show and food festival
The flower show at Kuppanna Park and the Aahara Mela on Maharaja's College Ground, open from 11am.
- Vijayadashami, afternoon
Jamboo Savari
In 2026 the flower offering on the golden howdah took place at 4:10pm before the procession left for Bannimantap.
- Vijayadashami, 19:00
Torchlight parade
At Bannimantap Ground; the palace stays lit until midnight.
Buying procession passes and booking near the palace
Mysuru Dasara rewards people who decide early. Paid seating for the Jamboo Savari and the torchlight parade at Bannimantap is sold online through the official Dasara website, and in 2026 sales had already closed by the time the festival opened. Watch the site from the summer, when the state government fixes the schedule, and buy as soon as sales start.
Three or four nights works well. Arrive in time for a couple of evenings of palace illumination, give one day to Chamundi Hill and the food festival, and save the last day entirely for the procession and the parade. A day trip from Bengaluru catches the lights but misses the build-up of the week.
From Vijayanagara's Mahanavami to Mysuru Dasara
Mysuru inherited this festival. Under the Vijayanagara kings in the 14th and 15th centuries it was called Mahanavami, and reliefs on the Hazara Rama temple at Hampi still show the celebrations. When that empire fell, Raja Wodeyar I revived the rites at Srirangapatna in 1610. In 1805 Krishnaraja Wodeyar III added a special durbar inside Mysore Palace, and on Mahanavami the royal sword is still worshipped and paraded with elephants, camels and horses.
The procession's goal explains its route. At Bannimantap the royal party worships the banni tree, recalling the story from the Mahabharata in which the Pandavas hid their weapons in such a tree during their year in disguise. The goddess rides there in a golden mantapa weighing about 750 kg, carried by a lead elephant. The elephants themselves reach the palace in late August, after the Gaja Payana march, and spend the following weeks preparing for their one big afternoon.
Food runs through the week. Mysore pak, the dense sweet of gram flour, sugar and a great deal of ghee, belongs to this city, and the Aahara Mela is the easiest place to graze through regional dishes. The Dasara exhibition opposite the palace, started in 1880 by Chamarajendra Wadiyar X, adds fairground rides and stays open into December.
Getting there
Flying in
Most visitors fly into Bengaluru's Kempegowda airport, about 185 km away. The Flybus runs to Mysuru roughly every 90 minutes. Mysore Airport has had only patchy service.
By train
About 18 pairs of trains run daily from Bengaluru; the Vande Bharat Express takes around two hours.
By bus or car
Buses leave Bengaluru every few minutes. The 140 km Bengaluru to Mysuru Expressway takes about 90 minutes; two-wheelers are not allowed on it.
In Mysuru
Use the prepaid auto counters at the railway station and City Bus Stand. Volvo bus 201 climbs Chamundi Hill every 20 minutes. On procession day, walk to Sayyaji Rao Road.
Where to stay during the festival
Hotels fill early. Budget travellers do best around Jaganmohan Palace, where simple hotels sit about 300 m from the city bus stand and within walking distance of the main palace.
Wherever you stay, check the distance to Sayyaji Rao Road, because on procession day you will want to walk.
Weather and what to pack
October in Mysuru is warm and humid, with average highs around 29°C and lows around 20°C, and about 160 mm of rain, often in afternoon or evening showers. Evenings at the palace are comfortable.
Worth packing
- A compact umbrella
- Modest clothes for temples on Chamundi Hill
- Comfortable sandals
- Water and a hat for the procession afternoon
Car hire in Mysuru
Airport transfer to Mysuru Dasara (Mysore Dussehra)
Met at arrivals at Cochin International Airport (COK) and driven door to door to Mysore Palace.
- Cochin International Airport (COK) → Mysore Palace
- 319 km · 5 hr 5 min
Restaurants and food in India
Places to eat in India before or after the celebrations.
1135 AD
Level 2, Jaleb Chowk, Amer Palace, near Sheela Mata Temple, Amer, Jaipur 302002, India
Cuisine:RajasthaniMughlai
- Dine-in
- Private room
Karavalli
Vivanta Bengaluru Residency Road (formerly The Gateway Hotel), 66 Residency Road, Ashok Nagar, Bengaluru 560025, India
Cuisine:South Indian coastalKerala
- Dine-in
Karim's
Gali Kababian, near Jama Masjid, Old Delhi, Delhi 110006, India
Cuisine:MughlaiNorth Indian
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Indian Accent
The Lodhi, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003, India
Cuisine:Modern IndianTasting menu
- Dine-in
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General
It is the grand elephant procession on the last day of Dasara. A lead elephant carries the idol of Chamundeshwari in a golden mantapa from Mysore Palace to Bannimantap, followed by tableaux, bands and dance troupes.
From 7 pm every night of the festival. On the final night the lights stay on until midnight. Outside Dasara the palace is lit on a shorter schedule, after its evening light and sound show.
Known locally as Panjina Kavayatthu, it is a night display by military and police bands on Bannimantap Ground. It follows the elephant procession on the last evening and starts at 7 pm.
Both names refer to the same Vijayadashami festival, written differently in different parts of India. Mysuru's version stands apart because of its royal rituals, the palace illumination and the elephant procession.
Yes. The Dasara exhibition opposite the palace keeps going until December, and in 2026 the Aahara Mela food festival ran for four days beyond the procession.
It is possible on a quiet evening of the festival, thanks to fast trains and the expressway, but the procession day is too crowded for an easy return. Staying at least one night is far more relaxed.
Try Mysore pak, the city's ghee-rich gram flour sweet, and a Mysore masala dosa. The Aahara Mela food festival is the simplest place to sample regional cooking in one go.
Booking
Seating passes for the procession and the torchlight parade are sold through the official Mysuru Dasara website. They sell out before the festival, so buy as soon as sales open. Without a pass, you can still watch for free from the roadside.
Timing & weather
The palace remains a visitor attraction, with an entry fee of about 100 rupees in normal times, and festival rituals take priority on the main days. Go early in the week and check opening times locally.
Families & accessibility
The exhibition's rides and Ferris wheel, the flower show and the lit palace are easy wins. The procession day is harder with small children because of the heat, the waiting and the crowd density.