Pitstop At Srirangapatna !!!!

On a single day trip to Mysore had a pitstop at Srirangapatna, the land of Tipu Sultan and off late a figure of controversy here in India. Spent close to 3 hours exploring the sites of religious and historical significance. This town is situated on the Bangalore - Mysore highway, and reaching this place is a no-brainer at all. As soon as we entered the town we had to pass through narrow gate opening, which is part of the huge fort wall encircling the town of Srirangapatna. The first stop was to the Ranganathaswamy temple. According to the ASI board near the entrance, this temple has its origin dating way back to 980 AD, making it more than a millennia old temple. The main gopura of the temple is quite impressive, but the interiors was like a mixed bag. Apart from the certain lathe made pillars the interiors were not so impressive. Had darshan within a 10 min wait were now off to other destinations of the town.

The next destination was the Colonel Bailey Dungeon. It might sound surprising that the rulers of Srirangapatna named this particular place after an officer of their nemesis, but when we get to know the details of this place it pretty much becomes clear. During the second Anglo-Mysore war this particular officer who was leading the British army was captured as a prisoner of war and it was in here that he was held for close to 2 years till he breathed his last. The security guard at this place also acted as an unofficial tour guide explaining the significance of the place, the architecture as to how these dungeons which are just next to river Cauvery has various water ducts in order to bring water from the river and flood this place as a means of torturing the prisoners, who would be tied up in neck deep freezing water. Other points of interest was the cannon which sits in the middle of the dungeon and supposedly weighs more than a ton. One also encounters the place where Tipu Sultan was found dead just next to the road when going to all the major attractions.

The next stop was the Daria Daulat or the Summer palace. This place has a huge garden and fountains adorning the wooden summer palace of Tipu Sultan. The interior walls of the palace has some beautiful and delicate paintings, but unfortunately photography is completely restricted once inside the building. There are lot of exhibits within this palace including clothing, weaponary, canvas paintings , sketches, memorabilia and so on. After the tour of this place our next and final destination for the day was the Gumbaz structure which is the final resting place of the sultan. This building, just like the summer palace has a huge garden surrounding the place and the structure looks like a mini Taj Mahal, and once inside there are coffins of Tipu, his father Hyder Ali and his mother. Apart from the impressive structure there is nothing much of interest. Overall a good educational trip and explored some more places, having visited Srirangapatna already in the past.

Summer Palace

Gumbaz- Final resting place of Tipu and His parents