Srirangapatna

It’s been around one month since we went out of the campus. We were very busy preparing for our exams. Now everything has got over and we had to refresh ourselves. We were discussing on the plan for that week end.. We had visited Mysore Palace, Zoo, Jaganmohan Palace and the Brindhavan Gardens. What was left around Mysore where we haven't gone? We went on for a search in the Google Maps and found Tipu’s Fort in Srirangapatna. We found some pictures and they were interesting. We decided to be there that week end.
Srirangapatna is a village of historic, religious, and cultural situated in hub of Karnataka, just about 13 kms from Mysore. The entire town is an island enclosed by River Cauveri. This history-rich town was the capital of the Warrior-Kings Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan - The Tiger of Mysore. We started late, took a bus and reached around 2.00 pm. When the bus went over a bridge across the river Cauveri, we had the feeling of entering a ruined ancient village. The fort walls that had fallen over the ages took us back to the dates of Tipu. When I saw those fort walls I got reminded of the Hollywood movie “Troy”. We got down from the bus and walked a little distance. We found a board marked Lal Mahal Palace.

Tipu Sultan Palace

Tipu Sultan Palace

We didn't find anything there but a lawn and some remains. It didn't look much like a palace. We took some snaps outside the so called palace. We were not so impressed by that.
Then we had a look at the Ranganathaswamy Temple. The temple is one of the most important Vaishnavite shrines in South India. Then we went to the river banks and then walked to the Colonel Bailey’s Dungeon. I forgot to mention about the water gate. It was really great to see a drainage system built by the ancient kings. We have never heard or read about that in any reviews of the place. The water gate has a board marked as an ancient building and it is taken care by the government but we were shocked to see people living there. They made that building their home.

Colonel Bailey’s Dungeon

Then we went to the Colonel Bailey’s Dungeon. It was named after Colonel Bailey who discovered this dungeon. This dungeon was used to imprison Maratha invaders, and other prisoners of Tipu Sultan. The dungeon measures 30.5 metres width 12.2 metres height and is built of brick and mortar. We walked to the top of the fort to get a view of the bridge built by Colonel Wellesley. We saw the crocodile pit and the huge walls built by them. The dungeon was really interesting. We took some good snaps there and then started walking. There were a lot of old buildings and temples left unnoticed by the tourists and the Government.
We then went to Tipu’s burial place. There was a stone laid in his remembrance. Then we walked to the Jamia Masjid and from there we took an auto to the Daria Daulat Bagh - the summer palace of Tipu. Built in 1784, this Summer Palace was one of the Tipu's favourite retreats. It stands on a raised platform at a height of 1.5 metres. The Bagh has treasured the paintings, engravings, arms that depict the valiant victories and struggles of Tipu Sultan. The coins, medals, weapons, canons and the pencil drawings are some of the noteworthy things found there. Another interesting thing exhibited there was the model of the island. It would have been really a difficult task to build such a model those days.
Then we left for the Sangam, the place where the rivers meet each other. This is the place where the Hindus perform their ritual rights. We were interested in the “parisal” ride. But we didn't because of its cost. Then from there we went to the Gumbaz, Mausoleum of Tippu Sultan, his father Hyder Ali and his mother. That was built by Tippu Sultan. The Gumbaz stands on a high and wide platform with an open veranda with polished pillars all round. The lawn in front of the Gumbaz looked like a dust bin fully covered with garbage. Although the Gumbaz had a royal majestic look, the surroundings were so disgusting because of the lack of proper maintenance. We just took a look at everything and started back to Infosys campus.