It is a neoclassical red-painted stone and brick building in Cubbon Park, located on Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Road opposite the Vidhana Soudha.

At Aurangzeb's court the ambassadors observed that administrative functions were divided into eighteen departments; inspired by this, the Wadiyar reorganised his own government similarly.

[2][5][6] Over time, the palace was found unsuitable due to lack of space, as the offices had grown significantly since they were first shifted there, and because of fears of the building collapsing.

Lewin Bentham Bowring, who took charge as Commissioner in 1862, was concerned about the safety of the treasury (worth ten lakh rupees) stored in the aging palace.

A revised plan by Richard Sankey, the chief engineer of Mysore, was accepted, and Bowring ordered the construction to begin.

[10][11][12] The contract for building the structure was awarded to Messrs. Wallace and Co., who sub-contracted the work to Arcot Narrainswamy Mudaliar and Bansilal Ramrathan.

Sankey reported facing some difficulties with the workers on the site, who poured mortar down the plumbing "once or twice... when the walls were well up, thus giving most serious trouble".

[15] Upon the completion of construction in 1868, the administrative departments of the princely state were shifted to the building, and Tipu's palace was turned over to the city's municipality.

[21] Bangalore became the capital of the new Mysore State; on 24 October 1947, Attara Kacheri was a site of great public jubilation as a new cabinet composed of elected representatives was sworn in.

[2] In the early 1950s, Kengal Hanumanthaiah, Chief Minister of Mysore, wanted to demolish the Attara Kacheri, seeing it as a vestige of colonialism.

[4][21] A government committee probing concerns of overspending on the Vidhana Soudha deduced that Hanumanthaiah did so in order to "vanquish visually the Attara Kacheri building, a symbol of imperial power, in length, height and majesty.

[25][26] The High Court struck down the petition on the basis that it could not change the law to make it a duty for the government to protect heritage buildings.