The illumination of Mysuru palace, which was the centre of attraction during the recently concluded Dasara festival, has been suspended again.
The illumination of the palace in the evening every Sunday and on public holidays had been suspended along with its closure to tourists soon after the Centre declared a lockdown due to COVID-19 during March this year. Though the palace reopened for tourists in June, the illumination remained suspended till Dasara.
“The suspension was revoked temporarily during Dasara. Now, it will be reinforced,” said an official of Mysuru Palace Board.
The illumination has been suspended till further notice. Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri, who is also the Executive Director of the Palace Board, will have to take a decision on revoking the suspension for good, said the official.
Confirming this, Deputy Director of Mysuru Palace Board T.S. Subramanya said the illumination during the recently concluded Dasara saw a large number of people gathering near the gates as the entry to the palace during illumination not allowed. “There were around 500 to 1,000 people at each gate,” he said.
The gathering of a large number of people is feared to facilitate transmission of the COVID-19. Also, a large number of people were also found flouting the safety precautions like wearing masks and maintaining social distance when they had come out to enjoy the illumination, officials said.
However, the palace will remain open for tourists from 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on all days including weekdays and weekends. It draws 2,500 people on weekends and about 1,200 to 1,500 on weekdays, he said. Along with illumination, even the Sound and Light programme here is suspended.
Though the Dasara festivities were scaled down this year, Mysuru palace was lit up in the evening on all the ten days of the festivities from October 17 to 26 when the approximately one lakh incandescent bulbs were lit. The illumination of the palace along with the main thoroughfares was the only major draw for the general public during the festivities this year.
The district administration, however, had deployed mobile health teams at the palace to carry out COVID-19 tests for tourists visiting the palace and the zoo during Dasara. Till November 7, a total of 48,620 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Mysuru. However, the daily cases had fallen to double digits on Saturday after a long time when 79 cases were reported.