The city has recorded history dating back to a thousand years and a mythical history which explains the origin of the name - apparently, this was the place where the demon Mahishasura was slayed by the Goddess Chamundi. You will find a statue of the demon on the Chamundi hill which commemorates this event.
In recorded times, the city rose to prominence when it became the capital of a breakaway feudatory of the Vijayanagara empire named Chamaraja Wodeyar in 1584. In 1610, he shifted the capital to nearby Srirangapatna. Hyder Ali who was a commander in the army usurped power in the late 18th century. Hyder Ali was succeeded by his son Tipu Sultan, who fought and lost a war with the British, dying in battle in 1799.
The British restored the Wodeyars as their puppet rulers and shifted the capital back to Mysore. The Wodeyars had substantial internal autonomy and the princely state of Mysore (which comprised a large portion of present-day Karnataka) was probably the best administered in India. After independence, the state was merged back to the Indian Union and the capital of Mysore state was shifted to nearby Bangalore where the British maintained their army. The name of the state too was eventually changed to the more accurate "Karnataka" in 1973.
The dynasty is still well-loved and the people of Mysore are still nostalgic for the grandeur of the earlier times. The palaces built by the Wodeyars and the yearly celebration of Dusshera are a holdover of that period.
Mysore has evolved from being a quiet and sleepy city, to a city that is touted to being the most important one in the state after Bangalore. With apartment complexes, supermarkets, a couple of proposed malls, new and improved roads, the advent of IT and BPO firms and a growing young and dynamic workforce , this regal city is trying to strike a balance between the good old days while trying to keep up pace with the changes affecting it.
A city that is old, yet new. A modern-day paradox in the making, anyone who lives in Mysore for long enough can't help falling in love with this place.
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