Mysuru Dasara is Karnataka's royal Navarātri, centred on the Mysuru palace and the centuries-old patronage of the Wadiyar dynasty. Its roots lie in the grand Mahānavamī court festival of the Vijayanagara empire, which sixteenth-century foreign travellers such as Domingo Paes saw and described. After Vijayanagara fell, the Wadiyar rulers of Mysuru revived the festival from the seventeenth century and gave it the court ceremony it keeps today. Karnataka now celebrates it as the state festival, the Nāḍa Habba. How the day is fixed: The festival runs through Navarātri, from Āśvina Śukla Pratipadā to Vijayadaśamī. It opens on Pratipadā with a flower offering to Cāmuṇḍēśvarī on Chamundi Hill and closes with the jamboo savari on Vijayadaśamī. Keep in mind: Because Navarātri is counted in tithis read at local sunrise, a skipped or repeated tithi can make the festival a day shorter or longer. The month is Āśvina in both amānta and pūrṇimānta calendars, since this is the bright fortnight. This year: The 2026 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. The lit palace and the durbar: Through the nine nights the Mysuru palace is lit with nearly a hundred thousand lights. In the Amba Vilas durbar hall the royal family holds a private durbar that continues a centuries-old court ritual. Ten days of the city: Cultural programmes, a kushti wrestling tournament, an exhibition and a food fair run through the city alongside the palace rites. Jamboo savari: On Vijayadaśamī a decorated elephant carries the golden howdah with the image of Cāmuṇḍēśvarī, the Wadiyars' tutelary goddess whose temple looks over the city from Chamundi Hill, from the palace through the streets to Bannimantap. After dusk the festival ends there with a torchlight parade. Worth remembering: Mysuru Dasara is the city's royal and civic festival, and it runs alongside the Navarātri and Vijayadaśamī that families keep at home rather than replacing them. Bannimantap takes its name from banni, the Kannada word for the śamī tree that is worshipped on Vijayadaśamī. Each region sees Mysuru Dasara beside its own Navarātri. Tamil families set it beside the home golu and the Kulasekarapattinam Dasara, Telugu families beside the Kanaka Durgā festival at Vijayawada, Bengali families beside the Durgā Pūjā pandal days, and Marathi families beside their own śamī pūjana. Many travel to Mysuru to see the jamboo savari. At home, the way Navarātri and Vijayadaśamī are kept is best settled by following the elders of one's own house.
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