Sri Mahadeshwara Govt First Grade College Kollegal

Sri Mahadeshwara Government First Grade College Kollegal is among the oldest government degree colleges in what is now Chamarajanagar district. Established in 1966, a full four decades before the district's own formation, the college served generations of students when this region was still part of undivided Mysore district. Its 19-acre campus — substantially larger than most GFGCs in southern Karnataka — houses a library with over 42,000 volumes, science laboratories, and separate hostel blocks.

Affiliated to the University of Mysore, the college carries NAAC B accreditation at a 2.39 CGPA. Around 873 students are enrolled across BA, BSc, BCom, BBA, and MA (Kannada) programmes. Twenty-six faculty members staff the departments, giving the college one of the better faculty-to-student ratios in the Chamarajanagar belt. The BA and BCom programmes account for the bulk of enrolment, while BBA attracts students from Kollegal and neighbouring Hanur taluk.

Kollegal sits at the edge of the Biligiri Rangana Hills and the Male Mahadeshwara reserve forest, a geography that shapes both its student catchment and its identity. Many students commute from tribal and rural settlements in the BR Hills foothills. The college's nearly six decades of operation have produced a local alumni network that fills teaching, revenue, and cooperative sector positions across Chamarajanagar district.