Getting ready for Dasara week in Mysuru

For ten days each autumn, Mysuru celebrates Dasara. The palace is lit with nearly a hundred thousand bulbs every evening, the streets fill with visitors, and families spend long days at the exhibition grounds and the Jumbo Savari procession. It is a lovely time and a tiring one for hair: sun, dust and late nights, with jasmine pinned in every evening.

A week before the festival, oil twice in the week as usual and keep up a regular wash. If you plan to wear flowers or a braid for several days, try not to start a new oil or wash product just before; stick with what your scalp already knows.

On festival days, plait or tie your hair loosely when you go out, so it does not tangle in the crowd and wind. Carry a scarf or a cotton dupatta for the afternoon sun at the procession route on Sayyaji Rao Road. Jasmine strings are best pinned to a braid rather than to loose hair, and removed before sleep, because the flowers turn brown and sticky overnight.

After a few days of dust, a gentle wash powder or a mild shampoo is better than scrubbing hard. Massage the scalp, rinse well, and let the hair dry naturally. Give it a night of oil after the festival, two or three hours before washing. Our shop on Kalidasa Road stays open through Dasara except on Vijayadashami, and many visitors stop by on their way to the palace to smell the oils and buy small bottles to take home.