Legend sthala purana · as told by tradition
The goddess is believed to have slain Mahishasura on this hill, earning the name Mahishasura Mardini; Mysuru takes its name from the story. The temple is also counted a Shakta pitha, where Sati’s hair is said to have fallen.21
Documented history
Karnataka Tourism says worship here goes back more than a thousand years and that the temple rose to prominence under the Wodeyars, who took the goddess as their family deity.2
A stairway of a thousand steps was built in 1659, and Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar set up the great Nandi in 1664. Rice’s Mysore Gazetteer (1897) records that Krishnaraja Wodeyar III repaired the shrine in 1827 and gave it a tower, and in 1848 presented the lion vehicle and other animal cars used in processions.13
In Rice’s day the goddess’s chariot festival (rathotsava) was held in October; the hill also carries an older temple of Mahabaleshvara, endowed by the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana in 1128.3
Architecture
The present temple is Dravidian, with Wodeyar additions and a seven-tiered gopura; the sanctum holds the eight-armed goddess, and the Nandi, cut from a single block of granite, stands two-thirds of the way up the steps.231
Where sources differ
The encyclopedia entry suggests the shrine is twelfth-century Hoysala with a seventeenth-century Vijayanagara tower; Rice credits the tower to Krishnaraja Wodeyar III in 1827. The two may describe different phases of the gopura.13
Where to go next
AI-created illustrationChamundeshwari and MahishasuraThe goddess’s victory over the buffalo demon, remembered in Mysuru’s name and its Dasara.- AI-created illustrationThe slaying of Chanda and MundaHow the goddess Chamunda received her name.
AI-created illustrationNavaratri and Mysuru DasaraNine nights of the goddess ending on Vijayadashami, Karnataka’s state festival.
AI-created illustrationAshadha Fridays at Chamundi HillFridays of Ashadha, held especially auspicious for Chamundeshwari.
Sources
- Encyclopedia Chamundeshwari Temple — Wikipedia · accessed 2026-11-08
- Government Chamundeshwari Temple — Karnataka Tourism, Government of Karnataka · accessed 2026-11-08
- Book (1897) B. Lewis Rice, Mysore: A Gazetteer Compiled for Government, revised edition, Vol. II — Archibald Constable, Westminster, 1897 · Internet Archive · Mysore District: Chamundi hill, Seringapatam; Hassan District: Halebid · accessed 2026-11-08
Researched 2026-11-08 from the cited sources. Community corrections are welcome; traditions differ, and differences are shown rather than resolved.