Mysuru Dasara 2026 is set to open atop Chamundi Hills with more than 100 religious heads from different faiths expected to witness the inauguration, marking a first for the centuries-old festival’s opening ceremony. The 11-day celebration will be inaugurated by Abhinava Gavisiddeshwara Swami of Gavi Mutt during the Dhanur Lagna window from 11.50am to 12.13pm on Sunday.
The inauguration will be held at Chamundi Hills, where arrangements have been made to accommodate around 2,000 people, according to Dasara special officer Lakshmikanth Reddy. Religious rituals will begin early in the morning at the temple before the formal opening.
Chief priest Shashishekhar Dixit said Maha Rudrabhisheka and Panchabhisheka would be performed at 5.30am. Over the following nine days, pujas and rituals will be offered to the nine forms of Durga as part of Navaratri worship. The temple will also conduct the Saptamatrika Alankara for the inauguration.
The participation of more than 100 religious leaders from different faiths is being presented as an effort to broaden the festival’s interfaith presence alongside its traditional religious practices. The development adds an institutional and public dimension to an event that combines religious observance, cultural programming, heritage and large-scale city administration.
The main public spectacle, the Vijayadashami procession, will take place on October 21. The procession will travel from Mysuru Palace to Banni Mantap grounds, with a caparisoned elephant carrying the golden howdah. The forest department is yet to finalise the elephant that will carry the howdah after Abhimanyu and Mahendra were dropped from consideration following testing. The final selection is expected to be made from Dhananjaya, Prashantha, Sugreeva and Ekalavya. Dhananjaya, aged 45, is currently leading the race based on endurance-test results.
Access to some of the festival’s major events has already tightened. Tickets for the Torchlight Parade, drone shows on both days and Dasara gold passes have been sold out. The events will be held at Banni Mantap Grounds. Around 3,000 gold passes, priced at Rs 6,500 each, were purchased quickly. The passes provide premium entry to the Mysuru Palace procession, the Torchlight Parade and Mysuru Zoo.
Tickets for the Dasara procession, priced at Rs 3,500 per person, remain available. The city will also host flower shows, a food festival, a wrestling competition and street illumination as part of the opening-day programme.
The Mysuru royal family will conduct its private Dasara celebrations at Mysuru Palace on Sunday. Yaduveer Wadiyar, scion of the royal family and a Member of Parliament, is scheduled to symbolically ascend the throne and hold the Khas Durbar, recalling ceremonial practices followed before Independence.
In a message, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar described Mysuru Dasara as a confluence of strength, devotion, grandeur, art, culture and heritage. The festival begins with the worship of Goddess Sri Chamundeshwari and is regarded by the Karnataka government as a major cultural event with global attention. The inauguration at Chamundi Hills will formally begin this year’s 11-day programme.
