சாமுண்டேஸ்வரி கோயில் (சாமுண்டி மலை)Chamundeshwari Temple, Chamundi Hills

Sthala Mahātmyam

Chamundeshwari crowns the Chamundi Hills above Mysuru, at the site the stotram calls 'Chamunda Krouncha pattane', ancient Krauncha Pura. She is counted among the eighteen Maha Shakti Peethas as the place where the hair (crown-lock) of Sati fell. The presiding goddess is the fierce form of Shakti who, by legend, slew the buffalo-demon Mahishasura on this very hill, from whose name 'Mysuru' itself derives, and who destroyed the demons Chanda and Munda, earning the name Chamunda. Revered for centuries as the tutelary deity (kuladevata) of the Wodeyar Maharajas, she is enshrined in a towering Dravidian temple, with the giant Mahishasura statue and the great Nandi monolith nearby. The chief celebration is the ten-day Navaratri, observed grandly as Mysuru Dasara, Karnataka's Nada Habba (state festival), when the idol is adorned in the nine forms of the Navadurgas and the Golden Howdah procession fills the streets. Ashada Shukravara Fridays and the goddess's Vardhanti are also marked with royal ceremony and deep devotion.