Srirangapatnam

I have passed through Srirangapatnam several times, but, never really took notice of the historical momuments there.

Like how Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur in the north are full of history and stories of brave warriors and kings…Srirangapatnam in the south is full of stories of the bravery and valour of one ‘Tipu sultan’ who fought against the mighty British.

He would have been successful and would have pushed the British out, if only the Nizam of Hyderabad was with him. The British were extremely successful with their divide and rule policy, which resulted in the Marathas fighting against Tipu, and Tipu against the Nawab of Hyderabad etc, each one fighting the other, and in the end, all of them losing to the British.

Srirangapatnam was the capital of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. Hyder Ali the son of a peasant who joined the army of the King of Mysore, and rose in the ranks due to his valour and bravery. Slowly, he commanded more respect than the Maharajah himself, the king by then had become a salve to wine and women and spent all his time in his harem. Hyder took the lead and began to take care of the governance and became the King himself. He established his capital at Srirangapatnam, and got involved in 3 wars with the British, with the help of the French.

When Tipu inherited the throne, he also herited the war that his father left un-finished. Tipu gave his life fighting for his ‘mulk’ or ‘quam’ as he would call it. The entire country at that time was afraid of Tipu and he was called ‘Sher – e – Mysore’. He was terror for the Nawab of Hyderabad, Marathas and also the Mughals. With so many enemies, survival was difficult, and in the end, lost everything, kingdom, treasures and life to the British.

Now about Srirangapatnam, predominantly a Hindu dominated state, Tipu was religiously tolerant, and let the Hindus live their life and let them follow their religious practices. He did not really insist on converting to Islam. In fact, Srirangatnam, has a large temple dedicated to Lord Sriranga…which enjoyed a lot of importance during the time of Tipu.

Srirangapatnam has been a silent witness to all the wars fought. It is in fact, a small island formed by the river cauvery and its tributaries. Tipu fortified the island portion. Inside the fortified walls, are the palace ( which is mostly in ruins ), Darai Daulat Bagh ( Tipu’s summer palace ), Gumbaz ( Tomb of Hyder Ali, Tipu’s and his mom ), the Juma Masjid, Colonel Bailey’s dungeon, The obelisq where Tipu’s dead body was found, the war memorial and the Sriranganatha temple.

The fort has high walls and watch towers. It has Bangalore gate and the Delhi gate, which I could see and passed through as I entered the fort complex.

We left Bangalore at 8 am in the morning, and reached Srirangapatna at about 9.30 am. We went straight to the Daria Daulat Bagh which is the summer palace of Tipu. Tipu was very modest and dint do any thing lavish, unlike the Mughals. The palace is a 2 storey complex ( ground + one ), and has rooms inside. It has a corridor that has wonderfully painted frescos. One side of the building has the painting of a battle scene. On the other side are the paintings of all the important kings of the time. The paintings are made of dyes and have survived the years. The battle scenes are gruesome. In the inside rooms, is the museum, you can coins, paintings, portraits, furniture, clothes, articles, all used by Tipu. There are also photographs of the turbans and the many swords, jewelry of Tipu, which were taken away by the winning British forces, as loot. They are now in the all the various museums in Britian and other parts of Europe. This building is maintained well, and the Archeological society is taking effort to restore the rest of the paintings. The gardens are also well maintained.

Next, we went to the Gumbaz. It is about a km from the Summer palace and is close to the cauvery sangam. The Gumbaz was built by Tipu for his father Hyder Ali. Later, which Tipu died, he was also buried in the same place, by his people.

A quick visit to the cauvery sangam was refreshing. After the heavy monsoons this season, the Cauvery has more than its regular share of water. We went in a coricle ride and there were a lot of people performing pujas.

It was noon by then, we broke for a quick lunch and the places next on the agenda, were the fort, the palace, mosque, dungeons and the memorial. All these places are inside the fort walls and are close together, spread across a area of about 3 sq kms.

We entered the fort through the Bangalore gate. The fort walls have survived the times, and inside the Fort, Srirangapatnam is a buzzling and busy town. In between all this is the mosque of Tipu. The masjid, again is a simple structure, and is home to several parrots and pigeons.

Tipu’s fort is in a dilapidated condition. It got destroyed in a fire, may be it was set on fire after the war. Dunno.

The barracks called the Colonel Bailleys Dungeon was a secret Dungeon. Tipu kept his prisoners of war here and among them were several Brits, and Colonel Bailleys was one of them. Bailleys died of a mysterious disease after many years. The entire barrack called the Suntan Battery in those days, always had a battalion of Tipu’s best soldiers and the structure was impregnable. It has the river on one side, and was completely hidden, as it is constructed at a level below the ground level…it is in the basement actually. There is a hole on the ceiling of the dungeon…during the war against the British, a canon rolled over, and fell into the barracks. It lies there, even now.

Close to the dungeon is the place..where the dead body of Tipu was found.

A little away is the war memorial. It was erected by the British in memory of all those who laid down their lives fighting against Tipu. The irony is that, the soldiers in the British army were again, all Indians. The location of the memorial is fabulous. Here, at this part of the fort, one can see the Cauvery on all the 3 sides and the location is fabulous.

Srirangam temple is open to visitors and devotees in the evening at 4 pm. We waited for the temple to open. In this temple, the Lord is in a reclining position. This is the only other temple, other than the Sriranganatha temple in Trichy….where the Lord is in this position. Incidentally, Sriranganatha temple in Trichy is also built on a island, made by the river Cauvery.

We had darshan and performed puja at the temple.

After this, we were free to get to the hotel for relaxing. Our plan for the next day was to visit Mysore Palace, Zoo and the Somnathpur temple.

There are lot of hotels in Srirangapatna, but, there are expensive as they call themselves Fort View resort and River View resort etc.

Srirangpatnam is just 16 kms from Mysore, and Mysore has a lot of hotels. I hada booking at Chandra Palace for the overnight stay. We checked into the hotel at about 5 pm and I had sufficient time to relax before Lost serial starts on Star TV.

I finished the day with a glass of wine and spicy Chicken sixer.

At the end of this trip, I only kept thinking, why Indian rulers had to keep fighting against each other. If they had formed a Axis..the Nawab of Hyderbad, Marathas, Mughals and all other Indian princes, then, together they could have flushed the British out.

Getting There :

Air : Nearest airport is Bangalore ( 120 kms )
Road : Srirangapatnam is well connected by road from Mysore, Bangalore, Hassan and Chennai.
Rail : Srirangapatnam has its own rail head.

Best time : Any time of the year

Trip duration : 1 day

Accomodation : I stayed at Chandra Palace in Mysore, and it is great place to stay.

Chandra Palace : 150, KT Street, Mysore. Ph : 0821 2421333 / 444
Bombay Tiffany : 0821 2435255 / 2435257

I will suggest Chandra Palace, as the place is good, economical and the staff are really friendly. But, just remember that they have place for just 2 cars to park. Chandra Palace does not really have a large parking space. They have a travel desk, and can arrange tours or cars if you want.

Note : Also read my travelogues on Mysore and Somnathpur.

The picture is that of Tipu's Tomb at Srirangapatnam.