A statue of Mahishasura and a temple dedicated to Goddess Chamundeshwari on the top of Chamundi Hill near Mysore city, relate to the legend of its origin.

[citation needed] The earliest known reference of rulers in Mysore district are the Gangas who during the rule of King Avinitha (469-529 CE), moved the capital from Kolar to Talakadu on the banks of the river Kaveri in the Tirumakudalu Narasipura taluk.

[5] Talakadu remained their regal capital till the end of Ganga rule in the early 11th century.

Gangas who were overthrown from Gangavadi, had to wait till their king Nitimarga Ereganga (853–869 CE) won a victory against the Rashtrakutas at Rajaramudu.

Seeing the increasing might of the Gangas, the Rashtrakuta King Amoghavarsha I gave his daughter Revakanimmadi in marriage to the son of Ereganga, Butuga II who became the ruler of Gangavadi.

[6] In the year 1117, Vishnuvardhana, the great king of Hoysala dynasty seized Gangavathi and its capital Talakad from the Cholas.

[8] Though there were Wodeyar kings during the rule of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, they were mere figureheads.

The Krishna Raja Sagara reservoir, which was formed by building a dam across the Kaveri, lies on the northern edge of the district.

[11] In 2022, Mysore district received an average annual rainfall of 1,318 millimetres (51.9 in) (an excess of 57%).

[16] At the time of the 2011 census, 80.81% of the population spoke Kannada, 9.27% Urdu, 2.91% Telugu, 2.22% Tamil, 1.12% Marathi and 0.92% Hindi as their first language.

It lies on the north eastern part of the district and is well known for its beautiful palaces and also for the festivities that take place during Dasara.

Mysore district elects 11 members to the Legislative Assembly of the State of Karnataka.

The 11 assembly constituencies are: Mysore district also elects 1 member to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament.

The seat of the administrative head for 128 years was a heritage building constructed in 1895 on Krishnaraja Boulevard.

The foundation stone was laid in October 2016 and building was inaugurated on 10 March 2018, when Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister.

On 8 June 2023, soon after Siddaramaiah became Chief Minister again, the Deputy Commissioner shifted his office to the new building.

[39] Some of the important crops grown here are cotton, grams, groundnut, jowar, maize, ragi, rice, sugarcane, sunflower and tur.

The Software Technology Park (STP) in Mysore was inaugurated in 1998 by the prime minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Its importance as a tourist destination was evident when it was selected as the venue for the Karnataka Tourism Expo in 2006.

[43] Though Mysore city is well known as a tourist place, other parts the district are yet to see growth in tourism.

However, the tourism department plans to develop other areas like Nanjangud, Bettadapura, Hedathali, Kapadi, Mudukuthore Betta, Mugur and Tirumakudalu Narasipura as tourist places.