| Native name | Mysooru– ಮೈಸೂರು |
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| Other name | Mysuru |
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| Type | city |
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| Locator position | right |
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| Skyline | Mysore Palace Night.jpg |
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| Skyline caption | Mysore Palace |
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| State name | Karnataka |
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| District | Mysore District |
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| Leader title | Mayor |
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| Leader name | Sandesh Swamy |
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| Altitude | 763 |
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| Population as of | 2001 |
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| Population total | 799228 |
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| Population total cite | |
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| Population density | 6223.55 |
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| Area magnitude | 9 |
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| Area total | 128.42 |
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| Area total cite | |
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| Area telephone | 91-(0)821 |
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| Postal code | 570 0xx |
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| Vehicle code range | KA-09, KA-55 |
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| Unlocode | IN MYQ |
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Mysore (pronounced in English,
Maisūru) is the second largest city in the state of
Karnataka,
India. It is the headquarters of the
Mysore district and the
Mysore division and lies about southwest of
Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. The name
Mysore is an anglicised version of
Mahishūru, which means the abode of
Mahisha.
Mahisha stands for
Mahishasura, a demon from
Hindu mythology. The city is spread across an area of and is situated at the base of the
Chamundi Hills.
Mysore is famous for the festivities that take place during the Dasara festival when the city receives a large number of tourists. Mysore also lends its name to the Mysore mallige, the Mysore style of painting, the sweet dish Mysore Pak, the Mysore Peta (a traditional silk turban) and the garment called the Mysore silk saree. In an exercise carried out by the Urban Development Ministry under the national urban sanitation policy, Mysore was rated the second cleanest city in India in 2010 and the cleanest in Karnataka. In December 2005, the Government of Karnataka announced its intention to change the English name of the city to Mysuru. During the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire, the Mysore Kingdom under Wodeyars, served as a feudatory. Mysore was the center of the Wodeyar administration till 1610 when Raja Wodeyar ousted the Vijayanagara governor at nearby Srirangapatna and made it his capital. With the demise of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1565, the Mysore Kingdom gradually achieved independence and became a sovereign state by the time of King Narasaraja Wodeyar (1637). Some of the events that took place in Mysore and made national headlines were the fire at Premier Studios that claimed the lives of many people, and the sudden deaths of many animals at the Mysore Zoo. The highest temperature recorded in Mysore was on May 4, 2006, and in winter, temperatures as low as have been recorded. Though Mysore is situated in the relatively safe seismic zone II, earthquakes of magnitude greater than 4.5 on the Richter scale have been recorded in the vicinity of the city. The city got its first piped water supply when the Belagola project was commissioned in 1896.
Civic administration
(CESC) in Basaveshwara Double Road of
Kuvempunagar, Mysore]]
The civic administration of the city is managed by the Mysore City Corporation, which was established as a municipality in 1888 and later converted into a corporation in 1977. The corporation oversees the engineering works, health, sanitation, water supply, administration and taxation in the city. It is headed by a mayor who is assisted by commissioners and council members. The city is divided into 65 wards and the council members (also known as
corporators) are elected by the citizens of Mysore every five years.
Demographics
According to the census of 2001, Mysore city had a total population of 799,228 with 406,363 males and 392,865 females, making it the second largest city in Karnataka.
Kannada is the most widely spoken language in the city. Nineteen percent of the population in Mysore live below the poverty line and 9.0% of the population live in
slums. Though 35.7% of the population in the urban areas of Karnataka are workers, only 33.3% of the population in Mysore city belong to the working class. People belonging to
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes contribute to 15.1% of the population. Mysore has seen a spurt in crime with 805 incidents of crime reported in 2005, higher than the 510 incidents of crime reported in 2003.
Since 2003, information technology companies have been creating bases in Mysore, with the city contributing Rs. 1100 crores (US$220 million) to Karnataka's IT exports in the financial year 2007–2008. In 1868, the Mysore state decided to establish
hobli schools to extend education to the masses. It was named
Manasagangotri ("fountainhead of the
Ganges of the mind") by the poet laureate,
Kuvempu. The university caters to the districts of
Mysore,
Mandya,
Hassan and
Chamarajanagar in Karnataka. About 127 colleges (having a total student population of 53,000) are affiliated with the university. Mysore University is the only university in the state of Karnataka to get a grade of A+ from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council of India. On the tenth day, called
Vijayadashami, the traditional Dasara procession (locally known as
Jumboo Savari) is held on the streets of Mysore city. An image of the Goddess Chamundeshwari is placed on a golden
mantapa on the back of a decorated elephant and taken on a procession, accompanied by tableaux, dance groups, music bands, decorated elephants, horses and camels. The procession starts from the Mysore Palace and culminates at a place called
Bannimantapa where the
banni tree (
Prosopis spicigera) is worshipped. The Dasara festivities culminate on the night of
Vijayadashami with a torchlight parade (locally known as
Panjina Kavayatthu).
Mysore is called the City of Palaces because of the number of palaces situated in the city, including Amba Vilas popularly known as Mysore Palace, Jaganmohana Palace which has now been converted into an art gallery, Rajendra Vilas also known as the summer palace, situated in the Chamundi Hills, Lalitha Mahal which has now been converted into a hotel and Jayalakshmi Vilas, which is now on the University of Mysore premises.
Mysore is the location of the International Ganjifa Research Centre, which is involved in the research of the ancient card game Ganjifa and the art associated with it.
Transport
Air
In a recent development, the
Mysore Airport or the Mandakalli Airport provides flights from Bangalore and Chennai through Kingfisher Airlines.
Railways
Mysore Railway Station has three railway lines that connect it to the cities of
Bangalore,
Hassan and
Chamarajanagar. The first railway line established in the city was the Bangalore-Mysore Junction
metre gauge line, which was commissioned in 1882. One of the well-known publishers in Mysore during the Wodeyar rule was M Venkatakrishnaiya, who is called the father of Kannada journalism. He started news magazines such as
Sampadabhyudaya,
Vidyaadaayini, the
Mysore Patriot and
Saadhvi.
The Mysore Zoo, established in 1892, and the Karanji and Kukkarahalli lakes are also popular spots for tourists. The hills, B R Hills and Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta and the hill stations of Ooty Sultan Battery and Madikeri are all near Mysore. Popular destinations for wildlife enthusiasts near Mysore include the National Parks at Bandipur and Nagarhole, the wildlife sanctuaries at Melkote and B R Hills and the bird sanctuaries at Ranganathittu and Kokrebellur. Other tourist spots near Mysore include the religious locations of Nanjanagud and Bylakuppe and the waterfalls at Shivanasamudra.
Mysore has about 180 parks and playgrounds. Most of the residential areas have their own small parks: e.g. Ambedkar Park in Jayanagar a southern city district has a 500 metre perimeter footpath. The newly built Andolan Circle Park has a walking track that takes five minutes for one round. This park is near Kuvempu Nagar in South Bangalore. But many Mysoreans prefer to walk around the many lakes which pepper the landscape such as the central Kukarahalli Kere by the University where the journey around is about 4.5 kilometres. Another is the Lingabudhi Kere which has a beautiful footpath with bamboo forests and again takes more than 20 minutes for one round. This park it is a desirable neighbourhood to the southwest called Rama Krishna Nagar, 5km away from the city centre.
Information technology
Mysore hosts several
information technology related companies. Prominent amongst them is
Infosys Technologies Limited. Infosys Mysore also has the largest training center for a private sector organization in Asia. It currently accommodates 15000 trainees each year. In 2009 a new training center has been opened which accommodates 10000 trainee software professionals. Other prominent and notable companies are
Wipro Technologies,
Software Paradigm Inc, Comat Technologies, Starsoft,
L&T;,
Excel Soft etc.
Sister Cities
Cupertino, California
See also
Culture of Mysore
Tourist attractions in Mysore
Notes
References
External links
www.mysore.ind.in
Mysore Palace 3D Virtual Tour
Mysore City Corporation
Mysore Urban Development Authority
Official Mysore Tourism Website
Official Election Website of Mysore
Mysore City Portal
Category:Mysore
Category:Kingdom of Mysore
Category:Mysore railway division
Category:Divisions of Indian Railways
Category:South Western Railway Zone
Category:Former Indian capital cities
