The Gandabherunda in Mysore and South Indian heraldry

Record summary

The Gandabherunda, usually shown as a powerful two-headed bird, was a significant emblem in Mysore and broader South Indian visual traditions. First-half twentieth-century palace records, heraldic studies, temple documentation and art histories provide identifiable routes for research. It matters for comparison because extraordinary bird forms can arise through political symbolism, sculptural convention and inherited myth rather than reports of unknown fauna. Researchers should establish whether a source is discussing medieval continuity, modern state heraldry or a local oral explanation of the emblem.