One of the best art galleries in South India is the Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery, located at Mysore in the state of Karnataka. This age old palace was built in the year as a formal entertainment palace for the Mysore Royal Family and named as the Jagan Mohan Palace. Later in 1875 it was transformed to an Art Gallery with a variety of collection of paintings and artifacts of the Wodeyars of Mysore.

The collection of Art in this palace includes an incredible accumulation of Rembrandt Paintings. This unique collection can be found nowhere in the world except that of Russia. In the Western Collection Section, there is a range of works by eminent masters like P.P. Ruben, Titan, A. Caddy and miniature paintings by Gunoy.

Other than these there is a rare and valuable art collection, by Col. Scott, a British Army Officer. In 1950, this collection was shifted to Srirangapatna. The museum also displays the Gravure prints by British Army Officers exhibiting details of the Mysore war against Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. The superb paintings of the Kerala prince-painter Raja Ravi Verma have also been displayed in the gallery.

Apart from these, the gallery also boasts traditional gold leaf paintings of the Mysore, Bengal and European schools. Exquisite works of Art by the famous artists like Nikolav Roerich of Russia, Jiladin Ville of German, Sterling of England and Colton of Italy are also displayed in the Gallery. Beautiful paintings of the Indian artists like Mysore K. Venkatappa, Raja Ravi Varma, Ishwardas, Haldenkar, Subbukrishna and M. Verappa are also exhibited in the gallery. The palace-artist and the curator, M. Ramanarasaiah, contributed a lot of paintings of the Royal Family to the Gallery.

Rich colorful paintings cover the walls of the third floor of the gallery. It relates to the reign of Krishnaraja Woodeyar III. The gallery also exhibits the visual records of the Dasara celebrations in Mysore. A variety of games like Devi Sayujya, Srikanta Sayujya and Indian Chess are also depicted in the other wall of the gallery. New games invented by Krishnaraja Woodeyar III are also depicted in the gallery. The second floor of the gallery boasts an excellent collection of musical instruments. It is also a show house of ornamental furniture, glass and Chinaware, sculptures and photographs.

People who cherish to view the gallery visit between 10 o`clock in the morning to half past four in the evening.