Chamundi Hills
Chamundi Hill is named after the Goddess of Mysore "Goddess
Chamundi". It is believed that through her meditation the Goddess
protects the well being of the town below. She is an incarnation of
Parvati (consort of Shiva), who killed the demon Mahishasura. Thus
bringing peace to the country (Mysore is named after her). One thousand
steps or a taxi takes one to the top of the hill. From the top one can
get a bird's eye view of the Mysore City below, which looks very
enchanting and beautiful. More than halfway up a 5 Mt high granite stone
"Nandi" (Shiva's holy bull) guards over the city of Mysore.
Sri Chamundeswari Temple on the summit is dedicated to the royal Wodeyar
family's presiding deity, the "Goddess Chamundi."
Standing as the crown jewel of Mysore, Chamundi Hills is
the abode of all powerful Goddess, Chamundi or Chamundeswari. A
motorable road, besides a flight of 1,000 steps, take the visitors to
its top, where stands the beautiful tall Gopuram of the temple, one of
the best examples of the Dravidian school of architecture. The hill
rises to a height of 3,489 feet. Half-way to it, near the steps and the
road, there is a beautiful 16-foot monolith statue of Nandi, carved in
granite, black because of regular anointing with oil and other sacred
waters. The beautiful carved statue was a gift by the Maharaja, Dodda
Devaraja Wodeyar, in 1659.
Nearby the Chamundi Temple is the Lalithadri Palace, used by the former
Mysore Maharajas, whenever they visited the Hills, for worshipping the
Goddess, their home deity, in the temple.
By the side of the famous Chamundi Temple, there is another temple, the
temple of Mahabaleswara. In fact, Mahabaleswara, Ishwara in the form of
Linga, is the oldest temple on the hill. The hill was earlier called
Mahabaladri, after Mahabaleswara. This temple was a gift by the
Vijayanagar King Vishnuvardhana in 1128 A.D. As one approaches the road
towards the temple, there is a huge statue of monster Mahishasura. There
is a small township on the hill. State Government buses (KSRTC) ply
regularly to the temple from Mysore City
