The Mysore silk tour begins with hotel pickup at 8 am in a private air conditioned vehicle.

The first stop is Malavalli, home to one of Karnataka’s most important silk cocoon markets. Sericulture farmers from across the region bring their freshly harvested cocoons here, and the market floor fills every morning with buyers examining cocoons between their fingers and bidding in rapid calls. Your guide explains the full cycle from silkworm to cocoon, how the quality of each harvest is judged, and why the particular conditions of the Mysore region produce silk of such consistently high quality. If timing is right you will witness the auction at full pace.

The Mysore Silk Weaving Factory follows — the industrial heart of the story Tipu Sultan began. Established in 1912 by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV with 32 power looms imported from Switzerland, this factory went on to clothe the royal family of Mysore, supply parachute fabric to the British Army during World War II, and produce the silk sarees that remain among the most sought after in South India today. Walking through the factory floor you see the full production process — the reeling of cocoons into raw thread, the dyeing, the warping and the weaving — every stage carried out in the same building where it has been done for over a century. The factory showroom displays the finished sarees in their full extraordinary range: six to nine yards of silk in colours from deep ceremonial reds to delicate champagne golds, each one worn by South Indian women at weddings, festivals and auspicious occasions across the country and the world.

Mysore Bazaar is next — an ancient market of flowers, vegetables, jaggery, puffed rice and coconuts where the smells and sounds are a sensory experience in themselves. This is the Mysore that existed long before the palace was built, before the silk factory opened, before the city became famous for anything at all.

The Mysore Palace is the final and most spectacular stop on the Mysore silk tour. Built in the Indo-Saracenic style that blends Hindu, Muslim, Rajput and Gothic architectural traditions into a single extraordinary whole, the palace has a three storey stone structure with marble domes and a 145 foot five storey tower. The guided tour takes you through the Public Hall, the Private Hall, the Dolls Pavilion and the Royal Wedding Hall — the room where the Maharajas conducted their most important ceremonies, its ceiling a vast canvas of stained glass and gold.

Hotel drop by 4 pm.

This private Mysore silk tour is fully inclusive. We take care of hotel pickup and drop in a private air conditioned vehicle, your English speaking cultural guide throughout the day, all entry fees and a South Indian vegetarian lunch.