How our massage oils are blended
Sesame, coconut and herbs from a Chamarajapuram vaidya: what is in the bottles in your treatment room.
Visiting the spa during Mysuru Dasara
How to plan a treatment around the palace lights, the Jamboo Savari crowds and the busiest ten days of the year.
For the ten days of Dasara, Mysuru fills with visitors, the palace is lit every evening and the roads around the city centre close for processions and events. Many guests combine their trip with an afternoon at Sampige. With a little planning, it is a calm break from the crowds.
Book early. Our weekend afternoons are usually full a day ahead; during Dasara they fill a week ahead, and the half-day package often books out for the final weekend. Weekday mornings from 9 to 11 am stay easier to get.
Plan around the traffic. Jayalakshmipuram is about 4 km from the palace, but roads near Sayyaji Rao Road and the palace gates close in the evenings, and on the Vijayadashami day of the Jamboo Savari procession much of the centre is shut from late morning. We suggest a morning treatment on that day and leaving for the procession after lunch, or skipping the spa that day altogether.
The best rhythm we have seen is a treatment at 3 pm, tea in the courtyard, and a short auto ride to see the palace lights at 7. Do not book a hot stone massage or deep-tissue work right before a long evening on your feet; a foot ritual or abhyanga suits the day better. We stay open the usual hours, 9 am to 8 pm, through the festival, except on the Vijayadashami evening, when we close at 5 pm so our team can join their families.
