571. The World Famous Mysore Dasara….!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/faith-and-rituals/the-world-famous-mysore-dasara

Mysore is 144 Kms from Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka. The word Mysore is a corrupted version of “mysooru”, which is derived from the word “Mahishasurana Ooru”, which means the town of Mythological Demon Mahishasura in Kannada. There is mention of Mysore in Sri Devi Bhagavatham. According to the story in the Sri Devi Bhagavatam, Mysore was ruled by the demon King Mahishasura was a buffalo-headed monster. In response to the prayer by the Gods and Goddesses to save them from the wicket demon, Goddess Parvathi, took the form of Chamundeshwari and killed the demon on top of the Chamundi hill near Mysore. After killing the demon the Goddess stayed on top of the hill, where She is worshipped with great devotion even to this day. Mysore Dasara is in honour of the Goddess Chamundeshwari and is celebrated as the victory of good over evil.

There is an inscription on Chamundi Hills that was done in 950AD during the reign of the Gangas of Talkad who ruled Mysore. The Cholas defetead the Gangas and ruled Mysore for over a century. Then Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra (Halebidu, Hassan) drove Cholas away from Mysore in the 10th century. After the Hoysalas came the Vijayanagara Kings and then Mysore was under Yadu dynasty who were feudatories of the Vijayanagara Kings. After the fall of Aliya Rama Raya of Vijayanagara, Mysore was ruled by Wodeyars.    

 Dasara festival was started by Vijayanagara Kings but it was continued Raja Wodeyar I in the year 1610 at Srirangapatana which was their capital then. The festivities begin with the Wodeyar royal couple performing a special puja to Goddess Chamundeshwari in the Chamundi Hill. This would be followed by a special durbar (royal assembly). It was during the reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar III in the year 1805, when the king started the tradition of having a special durbar in the Mysore Palace during Dasara; which was attended by members of the royal family, special invitees, officials and the masses. This tradition had been continued till last year when the last scion of the Wodeyar family, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar presided over a private durbar. This year with the absence of the scion of Wodeyar Dynasty the Sword used by the King was placed on the Throne.

Most famous part of Mysore Dasara is the “Jambu Savari” (Elephant Procession) people from across the globe flock to have a glimpse of the extravaganza. 750-kg-howdah of pure gold is mounted on the elephant with the statue of "Nadadevathe" (Deity of State) Chamundeshwari placed in it. In pre-independence days we had the Wodeyars seated in the howdah. The Last Wodeyar to sit in the howdah was Jaya Chamaraja Wodeyar. The procession goes through the Mysore city for about 2 kilometers before terminating. Elephant carrying the Howdah is trained and groomed to do the job years before it actually does it. This year the honor and responsibility of carrying the Gold howdah with statue of Chamundeshwari is given to elephant Arjuna. Over the years Elephants named Balarama, Drona. Rajendra and Biligiriranga have had the distinction of participating in the procession and had the honour of carrying the howdah.

Happy Dasara to one and all............!