When: Shukla Pratipada to Dashami of Ashwina (usually September–October); Vijayadashami is the tenth day.1
About
Mysuru Dasara is Karnataka’s state festival, marking the goddess Chamundeshwari’s victory over Mahishasura. Vijayanagara kings held the festival in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and Raja Wodeyar I began the Mysore tradition at Srirangapatna in 1610.1
On Vijayadashami the Jamboo Savari carries Chamundeshwari on a golden mantapa atop an elephant through Mysuru.1
At Chamundi Hill the goddess is adorned in nine forms during Navaratri; Navaratri is also the great festival of Kollur and of the Sharadamba temple at Sringeri.234
Where to go next
Chamundeshwari Temple, Chamundi HillHilltop temple of Mysuru’s patron goddess, Nada Devi of Karnataka, and the heart of Dasara.
Mookambika Temple, KollurThe goddess Mookambika and a jyotirlinga of Shiva and Shakti, below Kodachadri in the Western Ghats.
Sharadamba Temple, SringeriThe goddess Sharada at the first of Adi Shankara’s four Amnaya Peethams, on the Tunga river.
Sri Krishna Matha, UdupiMadhvacharya’s Krishna shrine, seen only through a nine-holed window and served in turn by eight mathas.
AI-created illustrationChamundeshwari and MahishasuraThe goddess’s victory over the buffalo demon, remembered in Mysuru’s name and its Dasara.
Sources
- Encyclopedia Mysore Dasara — Wikipedia · accessed 2026-11-08
- Encyclopedia Chamundeshwari Temple — Wikipedia · accessed 2026-11-08
- Encyclopedia Kollur Mookambika Temple — Wikipedia · accessed 2026-11-08
- Encyclopedia Sringeri Sharada Peetham — Wikipedia · 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.