Musafir

As mentioned in the previous post, we all had lunch after a tiresome visit to Shivanasamudra and moved on to Srirangapatna. Before i start talking about the places, let me talk about its history.

Shrirangapatna (anglicized to Seringapatam) which is in the Mandya district of Karnataka is enclosed by the river Cauvery to form an island. The town takes its name from the famous Ranganatha Swamy temple. This town has since time immemorial been an urban centre and place of pilgrimage. During the Vijayanagara empire, it became the seat of a major viceroyalty, from where several nearby vassal states of the empire like Mysore or Talakad were overseen. 

The first monument that we come across when we visit Srirangapatna is the Dariya Daulat, “the wealth of sea”. This is referred to as the Summer Capital of Tipu Sultan and was built in the year 1784 A.D. The palace is square in plan, built on a raised stone plinth, with teak pillars running around the outer edge enclosing a corridor.

The entire building is actually hidden from outside. This could be to protect it from sunlight as the palace is made of wood.

There are two recessed bays on the northern and southern sides overlooking two large halls, through canopied balconies. The living spaces on the two floors of the palace are accessible by four staircases.

There are four cannons in front of the palace. These cannons should have been used in the final battle of Srirangapatna after which the British should have used them to proclaim their victory over Tipu. There is a nice garden in the compound and is a nice place to relax in the evening after the visit to the museum.

All the walls and ceiling of the entire palace are painted. The paintings depict the victories of Haidar Ali and Tipu over the British led by Colonel Bailey, the Nizam of Hyderabad arriving at the battlefield, and durbar scenes of Tipu’s contemporaries like the Rani of Chitore, the Raja of Tanjore, the Raja of Benaras, the Peshwa Balaji Rao II, Magadi Kempegowda, Madakari Nayaka or Chitradurga and Krishna Raja Wodeyar III.

After the death of Tipu Sultan in 1799, this palace was occupied by Lord Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington). This palace currently houses a Museum by the Archaeological Survey of India and consists Oil Paintings, Pencil Sketches, Aquatints, Engravings, Coins, Medals, Costumes, Furniture, Arms etc.

The storming of ‘Seringapatam’ an oil painting by Sir Robert Ker Porter in 1800 is one of the great historical paintings depicting the final capture of Srirangapatna on 5th May 1799. Tipu’s men are on the bridge offering stiff resistance. In the back ground behind the fort walls are part of Tipu’s palace, the minarets of the mosque and the gopura of the Ranganatha Swami temple.

 

Among the other exhibits, a special mention may be made of the costume of Tipu, a pyjama, a silk coat and a straw hat, two silver bowels presented by him to the Ranganatha Swami temple, a hand made paper manuscript in Persian dealing with the military code of regulations, furniture comprising of chairs, sofa with backrest, couch and a rosewood roundtable, a brass cannon, daggers, swords, pistols and muskets besides iron cannons.

It takes at least 2 hours to visit each article inside the museum. We spent some time in the nice lawn outside for sometime and we moved to The Gumbaz.