With ten-day Dasara festivities beginning today, Namma Mysuru that has over the years earned sobriquets like ‘Royal City’, ‘Heritage City’ and ‘City of Palaces’ has now turned into ‘City of Lights’. For tourists descending on Mysuru from far and wide and also local residents, it is an occasion to soak in breathtaking spectacle of illuminated Mysore Palace and insignias dotting important junctions. The Dasara Executive Committee is hosting 38 varieties of programmes at different locations this year to attract a large number of visitors. Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Company (CESC) which is overseeing Dasara lighting arrangements has illuminated up to 50 kms of road covering 51 Circles at the city centre as against 18 kms of road last year. Dasara Illumination Sub-Committee, which has spent Rs. 2.75 crore this year, awarded the illumination contract to Bengaluru-based Mohankumar Sounds and Lights. According to CESC Executive Engineer Swamy, who is also the Illumination Sub-Committee Secretary, major roads such as Albert Victor Road, Sayyaji Rao Road, Bengaluru-Mysuru Road, Nelson Mandela Road, Palace South Gate Road, Bengaluru-Nilgiri Road, parking space of Karnataka Exhibition Grounds, stretch atop Chamundi Hill, Chamundi Hill Road, Chamaraja Double Road, Basaveshwara Road, JLB Road, Krishnaraja Boulevard, Mahishasura Circle Junction to Dasoha Bhavan atop Chamundi Hill has been illuminated with dazzling lights.
