2 lakh people visited Mysuru Palace from Oct 1 to 12

The Mysuru Palace attracts a large number of people throughout the year, while around 2 lakh people visited in just 12 days from October 1 to 12, during and after the Dasara festivities.

However, the Dasara footfall to Mysuru Palace was 98,142 on 9 days from September 26 to October 4. There were a whopping 21,062 visitors on October 2 and 27,643 on October 9 both Sundays, during the 9-day Dasara.

It may be mentioned that there was a heavy inflow of tourists to the Palace from September 26, the first day of Dasara to October 4. However, the Palace Board had restricted entry of tourists till 2 pm on September 26, due to the first day of private durbar, conducted by Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, member of the erstwhile royal family.

Besides, visitors were allowed only after 4 pm on October 4, due to Ayudha Puja rituals and there was no entry on October 5, due to Vijayadashami celebrations and Jamboo Savari.

According to the Palace Board, the number of tourists visiting the palace from October 1 to 12 was 1,99,621, including 1,61,570 adults, 381 foreigners, 8,392 students and 29,278 children.

The footfalls to the Palace for the whole month of September 2022 was 2,06,405. This includes 1,71,127 adults, 994 foreigners, 16,632 students and 17,652 children.

The total number of visitors in the month of August 2022 was 1,95,921, including 1,73,118 adults, 1,181 foreigners, 7,466 students and 14,156 children.

The number of tourists recorded on the first day of Dasara - September 26 was 4,099 as the Palace was opened for visitors only in the afternoon. The last day of Dasara on October 4, which was also half-a-day entry, saw 12,876 tourists.

The Palace was shut on October 5 for Vijayadashami. Interestingly, the number of tourists were well above 22,000 over the next few days, till October 9. From October 10, it has returned to normalcy with the average footfall of around 10,000 people.

A good turnover

According to the tourism stakeholders, though the number of tourists were less on the first few days of Dasara, it picked up later. The hotel industry had a good turnover of Rs 200 crore and 100% occupancy of all the hotels and lodges in and around the city.

The number of visitors was around 70,000 during the 9-day Dasara in 2021, when the Jamboo Savari was restricted within the precincts of the Palace.