Karnataka Elections: Chamarajanagar Assembly Constituency

Chamarajanagar is a district in the southern part of Karnataka. Named after Chamaraja Wodeyar IX, the erstwhile king of Mysore, it is located on the interstate highway linking the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Chamarajanagar was earlier known as Arikottara.

The town has also earned a name which it might not be proudly associated with. The district and this town in particular is not only said to be a hub of black magic and witchcraft, but is also supposedly cursed - but for chief ministers only.

The Vijaya Parsvanath Basadi, a holy Jain shrine was constructed by Punisadandanayaka, the commander of the Hoysala king Gangaraja in the year 1117 AD.

Maaravva or Maaramma is most widely worshiped deity in the town, more than ten temples of Maaravva can be found in the town. Chamarajeshwara Temple and Haralu Kote Anjaneya Temple are the biggest and the oldest temples respectively. Apart from these the town has many temples. As far as other religious beliefs are concerned, the town has more than 15 Mosques ; five Churches ; two Jain Basadis and two Buddha Viharas.

Since much of the southern area of the district is dense forest, it provided good refuge to the notorious bandit Veerappan, responsible for the death of over a hundred policemen. He was shot dead in an encounter with the specially formed Special Task Force (STF) on 18 October 2004, in Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu. The main tourist attractions are Biligiriranga Hills, Male Mahadeshwara Hills and Shivasamudram falls. Bandipur national park also attracts many visitors. Gopalaswamy Hills in Gundlupet also attracts many visitors.

C.Puttarangashetiy from Congress is the current MLA and he defeated KR Mallikarjunappa of KJP.

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