Sri Chamundeshwari Temple is one of the 18 Shaktipeethas mentioned by Adi Shankaracharya. It is located on the Chamundi hills close to the city of Mysuru (formerly called Mysore) which is associated with the legend of Devi.
Story of Chamundeshwari Devi
Chamunda or Chamundeshwari comes in the stories of Devi as mentioned in Devi Mahatmya or Durga Saptashati as part of Markandeya Purana. In this text, Devi takes different swaroops or manifestations to kill different asuras who appear from time to time. The manifestation that killed the twin asuras of Chanda and Munda came to be known as Chamunda.
She is also the one who killed half man half buffalo asura Mahishasura and is therefore known as Mahishasura Mardini. It is believed that Mahishasur was killed here on Chamundi hills and hence the city of Mysuru derives its name from the Asura. This is not uncommon at all. Kolhapur derives its name from asura Kolasur who was killed by Mahalakshmi in Karveerpur which is now called Kolhapur after the Asura.
Residing on top of Chamundi hills, named after her, Chamundeshwari is the Kshetra Devata of the region surrounding the hills. This includes the city of Mysuru – which is the cultural capital of the state of Karnataka. Being a royal city, Chamundeshwari is also the Kuldevi of the royal family of Mysuru. She is in fact the state deity of Karnataka.
She is also known as Naada Devi. The famous Mysore Dussehra also starts from here with her permission. Dussehra is also known as Naada Habba in Mysuru.
As a Shaktipeetha, it is called Kraunchpatnam by Adi Shankaracharya and is otherwise referred to as Kraunch Peetha. It is believed that the hair of Devi Sati fell here when Shiva was roaming with her dead body and Vishnu cut it with his Chakra.
Sri Chamundeshwari Temple
The ancient temple is located on top of the hill at a mean sea level of 3400 feet. Many Devi temples are located on hilltops and in the good old days, devotees used to climb the bare hills. As the civilizations and kingdoms came up, temples became grander, and the approach to the temples became simpler.
Built-in the typical Dravidian style, with a tall gopuram in pale yellow color, the temple overlooks the city of Mysuru. The temple as it stands today dates back to the 12th CE and the Hoysala dynasty. The later additions like gopurams were probably done by the Vijayanagara kings. Notable though…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Inditales…