The famous Amba Vilas Palace or Mysore palace, which is lit up with more than one lakh incandescent bulbs on weekends, will now shine on weekdays too.

This is for the benefit of tourists, especially those coming from abroad just to see the palace.

The one-hour illumination of the century-old palace on Sunday has been cut to 45 minutes to ensure lighting from Monday to Friday.

The palace is illuminated from 7.40 p.m. to 7.45 p.m. on weekdays after the sound and light show.

T.S. Subramanya, Deputy Director of the Mysore Palace Board, says: “I have seen many tourists enquiring about the illumination on weekdays. The palace was earlier lit only on Saturday and Sunday, and on public holidays. It is now illuminated every day for about five minutes after the sound and light show.”

Mr. Subramanya told The Hindu that tourists, particularly those coming from abroad, are happy to get a glimpse of the lit palace.

For 10 minutes

The palace is illuminated for 10 minutes on Saturday after the sound and light show. At least 1,200 tourists watch the show on Saturday. Earlier, the palace used to be lit for over 30 minutes on Saturday. However, the duration was reduced after the launch of the sound and light show.

Mr. Subramanya said the English and Hindi versions of the show were likely to begin in two months.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Shankar Bennur / Mysore, April 11th, 2013