Mysuru (Karnataka), Jul 10 (IANS): The world renowned Mysuru Palace has been shut temporarily, following a palace worker's son testing Covid positive, an official said on Friday.

"Mysuru Palace is temporarily closed after a camel caretaker's son has been infected with the coronavirus," a security official at the palace confirmed to IANS.

The palace has been shut on Friday and will continue to be so on Saturday as well as Sunday for sanitisation.

Incidentally, the palace used to be open all through the year but owning to the Covid pandemic, the royal structure is being shut during the weekends since some days.

"We used to have light and sound show on Saturdays and illumination on Sundays, but now because of the pandemic it has been stopped," said the official.

Mysuru Palace is the royal abode of the Wodeyar dynasty which ruled the princely state of Mysuru for more than 500 years.

Designed by English architect Henry Irwin in Indo-Saracenic style between 1897 and 1912, the palace boasts of square towers at cardinal points covered with domes.

Its ornate ceiling, exquisitely sculpted columns, Kalyanamantapa's (wedding pavilion) glazed tiled flooring, stained glasses and domes are architectural splendours.

As many as 97,000 electric bulbs are used to illuminate the palace on Sundays, public holidays and during the globally famous annual Dasara extravaganza.

Mysuru is 144 kms southwest of Bengaluru.