Mysuru Desi news — 2026-10-14
KSRTC Launches Dasara Package Tours to Mysuru from Bengaluru
Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation has launched a series of special Dasara package tours from Bengaluru to Mysuru, running from October 13 to 28 to cover the entire duration of the city's famed 10-day festival. The packages offer convenient round-trip travel options for families, with departures from multiple Bengaluru city points and guaranteed return slots to manage the anticipated surge. KSRTC has deployed extra coaches including Volvo multi-axle buses to handle the festival season demand. Mysuru Dasara, celebrated as Nadahabba or the state festival of Karnataka, is one of India's grandest royal traditions, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors who come for the illuminated Mysore Palace, the royal procession on Vijayadashami, and the cultural programmes at the palace grounds. Tourism officials expect this year's footfall to surpass pre-pandemic peaks following aggressive promotion in both domestic and international markets. [2]
Women's Dasara Celebrates the Many Talents of Mysuru's Women
Alongside the grand state Dasara celebrations, Mysuru's Women's Dasara festival is carving out its own space in the city's festive calendar — a week-long showcase of dance, drama, business, and artisanal skills, with women-led institutions and self-help groups at the centre. The event, now in its fourth year, was inaugurated at the Jaganmohan Palace grounds and drew participants from across Karnataka, including weavers, potters, healthcare entrepreneurs, and classical dancers. Chief among the highlights were a Bharatanatyam medley performed by an all-women troupe, a business mentorship fair connecting rural artisans with urban buyers, and a Yakshagana performance directed for the first time by a woman practitioner. The Women's Dasara has become a platform not just for celebration but for economic integration, with organisers reporting that last year's event generated direct sales of over Rs 50 lakh for SHG participants. [5]
Dasara Howdah Elephant Selection Narrows After Mahendra Fails Fitness Test
The prestigious selection of Mysuru Dasara's principal elephant — the one that carries the golden howdah bearing the idol of the goddess Chamundeshwari in the Vijayadashami procession — has taken an unexpected turn after Mahendra, a leading candidate, failed key fitness and temperament tests. The howdah elephant must meet strict criteria set by the Dasara Elephants Authority, including weight-bearing capacity, calmness in crowds, and gait consistency to ensure the ornate 750-kilogram golden howdah remains stable during the two-kilometre procession. Mahendra, a 54-year-old tusker from Nagarhole, had carried the howdah in several earlier years but his handlers report declining physical fitness. Senior mahouts and forest department officials are now evaluating alternative candidates including Abhimanyu and Balarama. The selection is traditionally concluded 10 days before Vijayadashami and watched closely by millions of Mysuruvasis for whom the choice of howdah elephant is an event of enormous cultural and spiritual significance. [7]
Karnataka Government Goes All Out to Make Mysuru Dasara a Global Festival
The Karnataka government has rolled out an ambitious programme to elevate Mysuru Dasara into an internationally recognised cultural festival on par with Brazil's Rio Carnival or Scotland's Edinburgh Festival. The plan includes curated international cultural exchange slots, a multilingual digital media campaign across 20 countries, and partnerships with foreign tourism boards in Germany, Japan, and the UAE. Infrastructure upgrades around the Mysore Palace grounds have added over 2,000 additional seating positions and new accessible viewing platforms. The government is also inviting diaspora visitors through its Pravasi Bharatiya tourism scheme, recognising that many NRI families trace their roots to Karnataka and have strong emotional connections to Dasara traditions. Live-streaming partnerships with global OTT platforms mean the 2026 Dasara procession will reach an estimated 15 million viewers outside India for the first time — a milestone the state tourism department is calling Dasara's 'global moment'. [8]
Sources: [2] Deccan Herald · [5] Deccan Herald · [7] The Times of India · [8] Whispers in the Corridors