Once upon a time there lived a demon (Asura) named Mahisha.

He found great
happiness in hurting people. Once, he decided to pray to lord Brahma, who he
thought would give him a boon, which would make him invincible.

Mahisha performed severe penances praying and fasting for months as he stood
on one foot. The three worlds trembled under the strength of his penances and
a pleased lord Brahma came to give him a boon. Mahisha asked for immortality,
which the lord said he could not have as every creature that was born had to
die. Mahisha decided that he would ask for a boon that would make him as good
as immortal. He asked that no man should be able to kill and, if he had to die it
should be only at the hands of only a woman. He was sure that no woman could
ever fight against him however strong she may be.

Now that Mahisha was invincible, he and the other asuras went about hurting
and killing everyone on earth and then went on to the heavens to fight the Gods.
Even Indra's thunderbolt could not withstand the asura attack. Mahisha drove
out the Gods and took over Indra's throne. Mahishasura started harassing all
pious people who continued praying to Vishnu or Shiva. The Gods and people
were depressed and decided to ask lord Shiva for help. Lord Shiva, Vishnu, and
Brahma concentrated hard and used their radiant energies, which were joined
by the energies from Indra, and the other Gods. This godly energy took the
form of a divine lady with thousand arms. In each arm she carried a weapon
belonging to all Gods. This was Durga Devi.

She mounted a fiery lion and roared. It was a roar that shook mountains and
created huge waves in the seas. Even Mahisha was worried for a second, but his
vanity took over when he saw that the terrible form was that of a woman. Durga
created a large army from her breath to fight Mahisha's army and then fought
with Mahisha who came in the form of a Buffalo. As he struggled to set himself
from the Buffalo form she killed him with her sword delivering the earth and
heavens of the Burden called Mahishasura.

In Mysore (Karnataka) atop the Chamundi hills, you can see a big statue of
Mahishasura. Here there is a temple dedicated to Durga also known as
Mahishasura mardini or Chamundi.