This palace in the city of Mysore, India is the home of the royal family of the Wodeyars, who ruled the Kingdom of Mysore from 1399 until 1947. Though the original palace was built in the 14th century, Mysore lost importance in 1610, when the Raja Wodeyar moved his capital to Sriranagapattana. The palace was damaged and demolished multiple times- first by lightning in 1638 and then in 1787 by Tipu Sultan, whose father Hyder Ali had taken over Mysore in 1762. With the fourth Mysore war of 1799, Lord Mornington, Governor General of India gave the Mysore Kingdom back to the Wodeyars and Mysore’s status as capital was restored. A new palace was built in 1803, though this palace was destroyed in a fire in 1897. The current palace was finally finished in 1912 in the Indo-Saracenic style, with pink marble domes and many arches. During the two month period surrounding the 10-day Dasara festival, the Mysore Palace is lit up with over 96,000 lights. Some notable rooms are: the ornately-decorated Ambavilasa, used for private audiences with the king, the Gombe Thotti, housing a gallery of traditional dolls and sculptures and the Kalyana Mantapa (marriage hall), with peacock motifs and stained glass.
