Also known as the Amba Vilas Palace, the beautiful profile of this walled Indo-Saracenic palace, the seat of the maharajas of Mysore, graces the city's skyline. An earlier palace burnt down in 1897 and the present one was completed in 1912.
Inside it's a kaleidscope of stained glass, mirrors, there are also beautiful carved wooden doors and mosaic floors, as well as a whole series of mediocre, though historically interesting, paintings depicting life in Mysore during the Edwardian Raj. Note the beautifully carved mahogany ceilings, solid silver doors, white marble floors and superb columned Durbar Hall. The palace even has a selection of Hindu temples within the palace walls including the Varashaswamy Temple with a gopuram which set the pattern for the later Sri Chamundeswari Temple on Chamundi Hill. The former maharaja is still in residence at the back of the palace.