The name Mysuru finds its roots from Mahishasura, who was a demon who had the ability to take the form of buffalo and human. It is believed that this area was ruled by the demon Mahishasura who was killed by the Goddess Chamundeshwari, whose temple is over the hills. This is how the city was named Mysore.

The word Mysuru is a corrupted version of “mysooru“, which is derived from the word “mahishur” or “Mahishasurana Ooru“, which means the town of Mahishasura in Kannada, the local language. Mysuru has been associated with the Puranic story found in the Devi Bhagavatha. According to the story in the Devi Purana, Mysuru was ruled by the demon King Mahishasura who was a buffalo-headed monster. In response to the prayer by the Gods and Goddesses to save them from the demon, Goddess Parvathi, took birth as Chamundeshwari and killed the monster on top of the Chamundi hill near Mysuru. Hence the hill and the city have the names Chamundi Hill and Mysuru respectively.

There is an inscription in Mysuru by the Hoysalas that dates back to the 11th and 12th century. The Mysuru was ruled by Gangas, Chalukyas, Cholas and Hoysalas. After the Hoysalas came, the Vijayanagar Kings and then the Mysuru Yadu dynasty came to power in 1399A.D. They were the feudatories of the Vijayanagar Kings. This dynasty also contributed to temple building in Mysuru. Bettada Chamaraja Wadiyar, the raja of Mysuru rebuilt the fort of Mysuru and made his headquarters and called the city ‘Mahishura Nagara‘ meaning the city of Mahishur. Many inscriptions done in the 17th century and later refer to Mysuru as ‘Mahishuru‘.