Tourists disappointed over 6-day closure of Palace for wedding

Foreign nationals inconvenienced; reschedule their itinerary

A large number of tourists, who had planned to enjoy the rich traditional beauty of Mysuru Palace, are a disappointed lot as it is closed due to the wedding of scion of the erstwhile royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar with Trishika Kumari Singh of the erstwhile princely state of Dungarpur in Rajasthan on June 27 at the Palace kalyanamantap.

As the erstwhile royal family requested the Palace Board to restrict tourists and people ahead of the marriage, Deputy Commissioner, also Executive Officer of Mysuru Palace Board, C Shikha has ordered closure of the Palace between June 24 and 29, the day when the ceremony will end. However, the notification was not published on the Palace website. The authorities made amends at the eleventh hour, publishing notification on closure on Friday evening.

Tourists, including from foreign nations, were a disappointed lot and expressed their displeasure.

Martina Wesley from Germany, who was on a month-long trip to India, was unhappy as she could not visit the Palace. She was not aware about the closure and thus came down to the city from Bengaluru on Thursday.

“I have plans to visit some other places in Karnataka, if I was aware of the function, I would have visited Mysuru only after the marriage,” said Wesley.

Thulasi Harish, a tourist from Kerala, expressing her displeasure, said that the authorities could have announced the closure of the Palace at least a month ago.
“We came to Mysuru only because of the Palace,” said Thulasi. This is her second visit to Mysuru and she is fond of the Palace, she said, adding, this is a great loss to visitors like her.

Only those with pass from the erstwhile royal family are allowed inside the Palace. The security arrangements have been beefed up for the event.