Mysuru : Chamundi Hills

Mysuru : Brindavan Gardens
Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens/Mysore Zoo
Mysore Palace/Ambavilasa Palace

ಐಗಿರಿ ನಂದಿನಿ  ನಂದಿತ ಮೇದಿನಿ ವಿಶ್ವ ವಿನೋದಿನಿ ನಂದಿನುತೆ
ಜಯ ಜಯ ಹೇ ಮಹಿಷಾಸುರ ಮರ್ಧಿನಿ ರಮ್ಯ ಕಪರ್ಧಿನಿ ಶೈಲಸುತೆ

I have grown up listening to the above stotram which describes the power of Goddess Chamundeshwari (Mahishasura Mardhini). Whenever I listen to the above stotram my desire of visiting Chamundi Hills to see the Goddess used to come alive. The day had finally come. The last day of our Mysuru trip was to Chamundi Hills. Goddess Chamundeshwari sits atop Chamundi Hills which is 13 KM form Mysore City and located 1000 meters above sea level. One more attraction of Chamundi hills is a big statue of bull Nandi. We started climbing the hill morning at 9 AM by our car and reached the temple around 10 AM, hoping there will be less crowd in the morning and can see the temple peacefully. But there was a long queue of people wanted to see the Goddess. There were two lines of queue - One for special Darshana and one for Normal Darshana. Normal Darshana was free and special Darhana was 100Rs per head.

Chamundi Temple Shrine

We paid 200Rs and stood in the special Drashana queue thinking that we can see the Goddess earlier than those standing in the normal Darshana Queue. We stood in the queue for an hour under the burning sun before entering the prakara of temple. This is a point where two lines of queue joins. People were pushing each other. Everyone was eager to see the Goddess. An elderly lady fell down. I feared of stampede. Thank God nothing happened. There were 4-5 priests inside shouting at people to move further. Some priests were demanding money. Somehow we had a glimpse of Goddess and with great difficulty we managed to come out. I was very sad because we could not see the Goddess properly and we were very disappointed with the way priests behaved with us.

After coming out I purchased a photo of Goddess Chamundeshwari from a seller, saw the Goddess till my eyes tired and decided to keep the photo in my Pooja room.

One more attraction of the temple is a tall statue of Mahishasura which is outside of the temple. In this tall statue Mahishasura is holding a sword in his right hand and a cobra in his left hand. According to a legend once the Asura Mahishasura was ruling Mysuru. He was killed by Goddess Chamundeshwari after ten days of fierce battle. So the Goddess was also called Mahishasura Mardhini. So Dasara is also celebrated for ten days. Dasara Celebrations begins after  offering a grand pooja to Goddess Chamundeshwari. Mysoru wodeyars are also devotees of this Goddess. 

Statue of Mahishasura

It was time to see a big statue of bull Nandi, which was just one or two Kms away from Chamundi temple. Nandi is around 5 meters talland carved out of a single piece of black granite. We relaxed here for sometime. Monkeys were wandering all around giving trouble to tourists. 

Statue Of Bull Nandi

While returning, just a few meters away from Nandi statue we stopped our car near a view point. Here we can have a panoramic view of Mysuru city. In the middle of the city we saw beautiful St.Philomina Church. It is one of the oldest churches in Karnataka. Due to the shortage of time we could not visit the church. 

St.Philomina Church

We could not see all attractions of Mysuru as it was just two days visit. We need atleast a week to see all attractions of Mysuru. Some of the important places we missed in Mysuru are - 

Lalitha Mahal Palace

Jaganmohan Palace (Now it is an Art gallery)

Many Museums and beautiful lakes.

We decided to come again to see all those spots. Hope time will come soon.