What's on in Mysuru, India through the year

Peak crowds — Dasara exhibition, Winter break in India

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Dasara exhibition (1 Oct – 15 Jan (usually)), Clear season (15 Nov – 28 Feb)

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Clear season (15 Nov – 28 Feb)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Busy — Summer vacation (Kerala / far south) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in April.

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India

Nothing new starts in May.

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Monsoon on the plateau

  1 Jun – 30 Sep · usually

  Milder than the coast on the other side of the ghats — grey mornings and evening rain rather than four solid months of it. The Cauvery comes up and the Krishna Raja Sagara gates open.

Busy — Ashada Fridays on Chamundi Hill, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Ashada Fridays on Chamundi Hill

  5 Jul – 15 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Four Fridays in the Ashada month bring hundreds of thousands up to the Chamundeshwari temple. Private cars are banned from the hill road on those days and everyone goes by shuttle bus. Source ↗

Still on: Monsoon on the plateau (1 Jun – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — Ashada Fridays on Chamundi Hill, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Monsoon on the plateau (1 Jun – 30 Sep (usually)), Ashada Fridays on Chamundi Hill (5 Jul – 15 Aug (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Festival

  Mysuru Dasara

  11–21 OctMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Ten nights with the palace lit end to end, closing with the Jamboo Savari — the goddess on a golden howdah, walked five kilometres to Bannimantap behind caparisoned elephants. Book a room in July. Source ↗

Still on: Monsoon on the plateau (1 Jun – 30 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Mysuru Dasara, Dasara exhibition

• Opening

  Dasara exhibition

  1 Oct – 15 Jan · usuallySummer season opensCrowded

  The fairground at Doddakere Maidan opens with Dasara and stays up for months afterwards — stalls, rides and a stage, and the one part of the festival that outlasts the crowds. Source ↗

Still on: Mysuru Dasara (11–21 Oct)

Busy — Dasara exhibition

• Season

  Clear season

  15 Nov – 28 FebDry season

  Cool mornings, dry evenings and the palace floodlights on without a haze in front of them. It is also when the day trips out to Bandipur and Nagarhole actually see something.

Still on: Dasara exhibition (1 Oct – 15 Jan (usually))

Peak crowds — Dasara exhibition, Winter break in India

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Dasara exhibition (1 Oct – 15 Jan (usually)), Clear season (15 Nov – 28 Feb)