D. Devaraj Urs Road is the most prominent shopping street of

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

city in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. This street is also the center of the downtown or the

Central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

area in the city. In post office parlance, Devaraj Urs road is known as Mysore One.

History

This street was named after

Devaraj Urs Devaraj Devaraj Urs (20 August 1915 – 6 June 1982) was an Indian politician who served two terms as the eighth Chief Minister of Karnataka (1972–77, 1978–80), a state in southern India. He is also the longest serving Chief Minister of ...

, the former Chief Minister of Karnataka. He was a popular chief minister and a reformist. This area was formerly called Devaraja Mohalla and a weekly market was regularly conducted here. The location of the market became the present Devaraja Market.

Location

Devaraj Urs road is about one mile in length. There are many parallel roads connecting to Devaraj Urs Road and a total of two square kilometer area makes up the downtown of Mysore city. The street has an east–west orientation. K.R.Circle comes in the northwest corner of the Mysore palace and Devaraj Urs Road starts here. JLB Road joins the Devaraj Urs road near the Maharani's College.

Nature of business

Most of the shops in the Devaraj Urs Road are those selling clothes and ornaments. There are also branches of leading banks here. Restaurants are not many but a few of them are available in the parallel roads. Parking is allowed on one side of the road and the entire street is one way. There is only one coffee shop but the smell of coffee permeates the atmosphere because there are many shops selling fresh coffee powder. All buildings on this road has a similar façade.

Modern period

In the modern period, Mysore has seen the experiment of opening many shopping malls in different parts of the city. But the footfall on Devaraj Market still continues to be the highest in the city for a number of reasons. One is the proximity to the city bus station and the other is access to the railway station which is only one kilometer from here.

Timings

Unlike in the west, shops in Mysore open late and close early. Most shops close by nine in the evening some stretching up to 10 pm.

Gallery

File:Pedestrians waiting at crossing, Mysore.jpg, K. R. Circle File:Anjaneya Temple, Urs Road.jpg, Anjaneya Temple File:Cafe Coffee Day, Devaraj Urs Road.jpg, Cafe Coffee Day File:Devaraj Urs Road.jpg, Upper End

References

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Top things to do at Devraj Urs Road
Suburbs of Mysore Economy of Mysore Mysore North Roads in Mysore