Dasara is the Nadahabba (state festival) of Karnataka. Mysore(Mysooru) is well known for the festivities that take place during this period. Also termed as Navaratri (meaning nine-nights), it is a ten day festival usually held during the months of September and October. During this period, various cultural and religious programs highlighting the arts and culture of Karnataka and India are held. The Mysore(Mysooru) palace is illuminated on all ten days and prominent cultural programs are held in the palace grounds. The festivities begin with a pooja performed to the Goddess Chamundeshwari atop the Chamundi Hills in the presence of the Wodeyar royal couple, high ranking officials of the State and other invitees.

Mysore(Mysooru) was the home of the father of modern yoga, Krishnamacharya, who taught at Mysore(Mysooru) Palace until his shala was closed in 1950 after India gained independence. It was because of Krishnamacharya that Mysore(Mysooru) became renowned as a mecca for yoga. Many Mysore(Mysooru) yoga instructors draw international students for extended yoga programs, including Venkatesh Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois, who stayed on even after Krishanmacharya moved to Chennai. Teachers of Sanskrit, kirtan chant, Ayurveda and other yogic forms are readily available. The Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute, the Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Ashram and the Indus Valley Ayurvedic Center all welcome visitors. In addition to traditional Hindu spiritual methods, courses are available in Osho meditation, the Art of Living, Reiki, Breema, and many other systems.

Mysore(Mysooru) is home to the following museums:

• Regional Museum of Natural History has exhibits on plants, animals and geology of the southern region of India
  
• Folk Lore Museum (1968) located in the University of Mysore(Mysooru) campus, the museum exhibits over 6500 folk art and crafts from all over the state of Karnataka
  
• Railway Museum exhibits vintage locomotives and is the second such museum to be set up after the National Railway Museum in Delhi
  
  
• Oriental Research Institute, formerly known as the Oriental Library, established in 1891 contains over 33000 palm leaf manuscripts