Chamarajanagar is a district of Karnataka. It shares borders with Erode District of Tamil Nadu and Wayanad District of Kerala. The district was created after the larger Mysore district was split into two. The new Mysore district and Chamrajnagar district. The capital of the district is the city of Chamarajanagar. Chamarajanagar taluk, Yelandur taluk, Kollegal taluk, and Gundalpet taluk form the parts of Chamrajanagar district.

Chamarajanagar is known for its forest land within its boundaries. 48% of the total land is forest area. It has a very high population of forest dwelling tribals - Soligas, Jenu Kurubas, Betta Kurubas etc. Most of these tribes inhabit the forest of B.R. Hills, M.M. Hills and Bandipur National Park. All of these are protected areas. These tribals have their own dialect, usually with a strong Tamil influence. The district has its share of natural beauty. Local people and devotees revel in the beauty of the temples of the B.R. Hills, a wildlife sanctuary and the M.M. Hills.

Chamarajanagar is rich with religious sites of many religions. The temple in the M.M. Hills is the most famous one. The yearly car festival (jatre) at M.M. Hills attracts devotees in large numbers. It is situated within the MM Hills Reserve Forest, not very far from where the river Cauvery flows into Tamil Nadu.

Chamarajanagara was originally known as Arikottara till 1818. It was renamed after the ruler of Mysore, Chamaraja Wodeyar, who was born there. The earliest mention of the place name is in an inscription and is referred to as 'Tricuta Basadi at Arikottara'. This place has been a Taluk center since 1874. There are many temples dedicated to Chamarajeswara. The earliest of these was the Vijaya Parshwanatha Basadi built in 1116 A.D. It is said to be built by Punisa Dandanayaka on the orders of the Hoysala emperor Vishnuvardhana.

The best temple in this area is the Chamrajeswara complex built by Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. This was built in 1828 in memory of his father - Chamaraja Wodeyar. The sanctum sanctorum has the Linga. There are several shrines all around the main temple. It is noted that the Shivalinga here was originally at Sringeri. Transferred to this place it was later named as Chamarajeswara.