The Chamundi temple atop the serene Chamundi hills is the most famous temple in Mysore. Legend says that the demon Mahishasura, was killed by the Goddess Chamundeswari (also Chamundi) after a fierce battle. The hills thus got their name and a temple of the goddess was built on top of the hill which is located at a height of 3000 feet, three kilometres away from Mysore city. The goddess is also known as ‘MahishasuraMardini’ which means ‘She who slew Mahishasura’ . The Mysore city owes its name to this goddess who vanquished the legendery demon, Mahishasura.
The temple is a quadrangular structure of Dravidian style with a splendid 40 meter high, seven storied, gopura decorated with intricate carvings at the entrance. The silver plated doorway has images of the Goddess in different forms. In the sanctum sanctorum is the solid gold idol of the goddess Chamundeshwari.
There is a huge granite Nandi on the 800th step, on the hill, in front of a small Shiva temple. This Nandi (the bull which Lord Shiva rides and the gate keeper of Lord Siva and Goddess Parvati in Hindu mythology) is over 15 feet high and is 24 feet long.
We visited this temple, early in the morning, and had to wait in the queue for quite some time to take the holy darshan of the Goddess alongwith other fervent devotees. Later we proceeded towards Ooty.
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