Indian Columbus

Mysore , the heritage city of India, is famous for its  Palace  and  Zoo .  Chamundi  Hills, the nearby attraction, is one of the popular tourist destinations. The most important places in Chamundi Hills are  Chamundeshwari Temple , located on the top of the hill, and the Bull Temple, also known as Nandi Temple, located halfway to the top of the mountain. Chamundi Hills rises to a height of 3,489 feet. There is a motorable road to Chamundeshwari temple. There are also steps available for the devotees to reach atop the hill. Halfway to it, there is a beautiful 16-feet monolith icon of Nandi, carved in granite. The icon of Nandi (bull - the vahana of Lord Shiva) is black in color because of regular anointing with oil and other sacred waters. The beautifully carved sculpture was a gift by Maharaja Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar in 1659 CE. The sculpture is magnificent and comparable to the Nandi of Tanjore Brahadeeswara temple and the Bull Temple in Bangalore. Th...

Mysore , the Palace city of India, is famous not only for its spectacular palace and zoo but also for Chamundi Hills. Chamundi Hills is located at a distance of around 13 km from Mysore, and it has remained one of the favorite travel destinations in Mysore for many years. A write-up about Mysore tourism is not complete without mentioning Chamundi Hills. Lakshmi Narayana temple, dedicated to Lord Narayana (Vishnu), is located on the backside of the ancient Mahabaleshwar temple. This temple is always visited by the devotees who visit the Mahabaleshwar temple. There is only one shrine found in this small temple dedicated to Lord Narayana and his consorts, Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi. Even though there are no records that I can find about the history of this temple, I could say this temple is also an ancient temple. This may not be as old as the Mahabaleshwar temple or Chamundeshwari temple. This temple might have been built or rebuilt in the 19th century CE. When you visit Chamundi Hills, visi...

Mysore , the Palace city of India, is popular not only for its spectacular palace and zoo, but also for Chamundi Hills. Chamundi Hills is located at a distance of around 13 km from Mysore, and it has remained one of the favorite travel destinations in Mysore for many years. A write-up about Mysore tourism is not complete without mentioning Chamundi Hills. The highlights of  Chamundi hills  might be the huge Nandi (bull) idol,  Chamundeshwari temple , and the giant statue of Mahisasura. However, there is also another destination in Chamundi hills, which most people are unaware of and easily miss out on visiting. That beautiful destination is Mahabaleshwar temple. The ancient Mahabaleshwar temple is located right next to the famous Chamundeshwari temple. This temple is much older than the Chamundeshwari temple. In fact, this is the original temple of Chamundi hills. In one way, it is good to find not much crowd in this temple; we can calmly enjoy the beauty of this templ...

Mysore , the Palace city of India, is popular not only for its spectacular palace and zoo, but also for Chamundi Hills. Chamundi Hills is located at a distance of around 13 km from Mysore, and it has remained one of the favorite travel destinations in Mysore for many years. A write-up about Mysore tourism is not complete without mentioning Chamundi Hills. The main attraction of Chamundi Hills is Chamundeshwari Temple. Chamundeshwari, also called Durga, is the fierce form of Shakti, the consort of Lord Shiva. She has been the goddess of Mysore kings for many centuries.  It is believed that Durga eradicated Mahisasura in Chamundi hills, and hence the city was named Mysore. When you reach Chamundi hills, you will be welcomed by a giant colorful idol of the Asura Mahisasur.  The original temple of Chamundeshwari belonged to the 12th century CE and was built by the Hoysala kings. The spectacular seven-tiered tall tower is believed to have been made by the Vijayanagara kings in th...