The City of Palaces — Mysore Pak, Mylari dosa, and Dasara illuminations
Mysore (Mysuru) is Karnataka's cultural capital — a city of palaces, gardens, and one of South India's most revered food traditions. The Mysore Palace, illuminated by 97,000 light bulbs on Sunday evenings and during Dasara festival, is India's most visited monument after the Taj Mahal. The city is the origin of Mysore Pak (cardamom gram flour fudge), Mylari dosa (soft rice flour crepe), and the Ashtanga yoga tradition that spread worldwide through BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois.
Mysore was the capital of the Wadiyar Kingdom from 1399 AD, interrupted only by Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan (1761–1799), who made it one of the most advanced states in Asia — building rockets (used against the British), sericulture, and the country's first night lighting. After Tipu's death at the Battle of Seringapatam in 1799, the Wadiyars were restored by the British. The current Indo-Saracenic palace (1912) replaced a wooden one destroyed by fire and cost over 4 million rupees to build.