Mahishasura: The story of a vanquished king

What is present day city of Mysuru (Mysore or Mahishur) in the southern state of Karnataka, was the kingdom of Mahishasura (Mahisha, the Asura) in the ancient times. Indeed, the name Mysuru is derived from "Mahisha Ooru", meaning the home of Mahisha. Contrary to the beliefs of many, Mahishashur was not a demon, but a respected king, brave and caring for his subjects. Indeed, all Asuras were not demons, they were merely the original inhabitants of the Deccan land before the Devas invaded it. As in every community, there were some good guys and some bad guys among Asuras; the bad ones were called the Danavas and the good ones the Adityas. We can assume Mahishashur was one of these Adityas. The name Mahisha was conferred on him as he was as brave and strong as a buffalo; his physique had nothing to do with the animal as suggested in some of the Aryan myths, and believed by the people in general.

Statue of Mahisasura at Kalamandira

Now, as the Devas (Aryans) were set to colonize the Deccan, there was bound to be disputes on territories and the Asuras and the Devas became arch-rivals. The history (or, rather the myths) are filled with bloodshed. The story of Mahishasura is also no exception. To protect his territorial integrity, Mahishasura fought the Devas, and their chieftain, Indra was badly beaten. 

The Devas tried to dig out some weak spot in Mahishasura to plan an attack on him. Apparently, Mahishasura had a boon from the supreme god Brahma that only a woman can kill him. The Devas were forced to train a woman, goddess Durga (also, called Chamundi), in warfare and send her to the battle with Mahishasur. A fierce battle took place for nine days on a hill-top, now known as the Chamundi Hill, at an edge of the city Mysore where Mahishasura was killed.

There are quite a few variants of the story. By another version of the story, it was not a fair fight. Mahishasura fell for the feminine charm of the Devi and was killed when he lowered his guard. By yet another version, Mahishasura was a Dalit or Shudra (lower caste by Brahminical definition) chieftain. He embraced Buddhism and had a monk-like character. Going by this theory, Mahishasura was killed in the Brahiminical-Buddhist conflict that prevailed India around first century AD. (See this blog to get more information about the conflict.)

Well, in whatever way it may be, Mahishasur was vanquished to the relief of the Devas and Brahminical rule was established in the region. A couple of statues (of recent age) in Mysuru reminds us of the great king. A nine-day festival every year commemorates the triumph of Chamundi (or, Durga) at Mysore and elsewhere in India. While the entire country rejoices, a section of population, in northern part of West Bengal and Jharkhand, claim themselves to be the descendants of Mahishasura and mourns the slaughter of their forefathers during those nine days. Of late, we see some rallies in support of Mahishasura by politicians, who cash on "Dalit" sentiments, in Mysore.

There may not be any truth in the story, and all the characters may be mythical. They do not reflect my personal belief either. They are not intended to hurt the sentiments of any community. They are just shreds of stories that I have heard here and there, and tried to string them together with some colors and spices added to them.

But the fact remains that the victory of the Devas were absolute. Demonization of the Asuras is perhaps the consequence of history being written by the victors. Though the Asura culture was superior to the Deva's at that time, there is no trace of it left in South India today. Only exception is possibly the 'Onam' festival of Kerala that commemorates another great Asura king Mahabali.

Update (22-Oct-2023)

News about Mahisha-Dasara in Mysore, 2023

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