Musafir

After a hectic and tiresome day in Shivanasamudra and Srirangapatna, we slept like as if we were drunk to the core. We were eagerly waiting for the next day trip. We all were ready by 8 in the morning for our next leg of the journey.

The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha. Mahisha stands for Mahishasura, a demon from Hindu mythology. Mysore is famous for the festivities that take place during the Dasara festival when the city receives a large number of tourists.

Our first destination was the Chamundeswari Temple. According to Hindu mythology, the area around Mysore was known as Mahishūru or Mahishapuram. It was ruled by a demon, Mahishasura. The demon was killed by the Goddess Chamundeshwari, whose temple is situated atop the Chamundi Hills. The hill is 3,489 ft. above the sea levels and is 12 km from Mysore city. An energetic visitor will be well repaid by climbing up the 1000 steps, fashioned about 300 years ago, and a good motorable road leads to the top of the hill. There is a large statue of the demon Mahishasura in front of the temple.

The temple here is in the Dravidian style. It is said that Raja Wodeyar (about 1600 AD) intended to build a gopura, and for that purpose erected four large pillar posts, which were removed when the present gopura was built by Krishnaraja Wodeyar  III. He built a gopura with golden finials, and set up statues of himself and his 3 queens in the presence of the Goddess. There are sculptures carved on granite in the main entrance of the temple.

We had a nice darshan of the deity and came outside. We then had coconut water as it was too hot. Even the cost of the coconut was very less compared to outside.  On the way back we stopped for some time again to take pictures. There is a nice viewpoint from which the entire Mysore City is visible. We can recognize all the major tourist destinations down below from that point. After that we went over the Lalit Mahal Palace which is a Five Star Hotel now. Although tourists are not allowed inside the Hotel premises, we sneaked in and took some pictures. 

We moved on to the very famous Mysore Zoo. It is a very large and unique collection of all types of species, land and water. There is a very good Aviary over here with beautiful birds. It took 3 hours to visit all the enclosures in the Zoo. We then had lunch and moved on to the St. Philomena’s Church.

St. Philomena's church is a church built in the honour of St. Philomena in the Diocese of Mysore. It was constructed in 1936 using a Neo Gothic style and its architecture was inspired by the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. Saint Philomena is  a saint and martyr of the Roman Catholic Church. She is said to have been a young Greek princess martyred in the 4th century. The church at the same location was built in 1843 by the then Maharaja Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar. The entire church is extremely beautiful from outside and inside. The church looks like a chocolate cake waiting to be eaten. The twin spires of the church stand at a height of 175 feet. The cathedral has a crypt that houses the statue and the relic of St. Philomena is preserved in a catacomb below the main altar.

We then moved to our final leg of our tour, the Ambavilas Palace.

There is one common feature in the tombs of Mohammedan rulers and it is that there will be a garden around the mausoleum and a path with trees on both sides lead to the tomb. You can notice this in many monuments like The Taj Mahal or Humayun’s Tomb. Islamic belief says that the way in front of the mausoleum will lead the the dead to the Heaven and the trees on either side provides a pleasant travel. The Gumbaz is no exception.

This tomb and mosque was built by Tipu Sultan as a tribute to his illustrious father, Hyder Ali (1782 - 1784 A.D), after his death. The Gumbaz is situated at the eastern end of Srirangapatna. It enshrines the cenotaphs of Hyder Ali, his wife Fakr-Un-Nisa and Tipu Sultan, after his death in 1799 A.D.

Once you go near the building, you will be welcomed by a cool breeze and once you raise your head to look at the top of the dome, you will see the true beauty of the tomb, the exquisite designs carved. It is built on a stone plinth, with polished black granite pillars that run around the corridor around the inner chamber.  There are tombs of many of the family members inside this corridor.

A special mention need to be made about the entrances to the chamber. They are made of stone with very intricate carvings on them. There are several verses written in Urdu on the top panels. The doors are made of ebony and inlaid with ivory. When we go inside we see that the entire walls decorated with stylised tiger-stripe babri decoration. The doors were given by Lord Dalhousie in the 18th century. 

Inside there is a small enclosure in which the Tiger of Mysore and his parents lay in peace. We can easily identify Tipu’s tomb by the tiger striped-cloth laid on it. Just beside Tipu lies his father and then his mother.  A magnificent dome crowns the building. Just beside the mausoleum there is the Masjid - E - Aksa. It resembles the Gumbaz in terms of the architecture but the most notable feature of this are two long minarets.

At the eastern entrance of the Mausoleum is a tablet in Persian script that speaks of the martyrdom of Tipu Sultan in 1799 A.D.

There are numerous cenotaphs of the relatives of Tipu family inside the same compound. More than 100 family members of Tipu are buried over here including his seven sons and his sisters. Even the garden outside is a house for the numerous tombs. Not only this family, but also his chief generals are buried here.  This is a place best visited in the evening for the cool breeze and the gardens are a pleasure.

We then proceeded towards the Srirangapatna Fort.

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.