If you are around Mysore, Srirangapatana is one of the most interesting places to visit and explore some of the interesting places related to Tipu Sultan. It's 30 minutes drive from Mysore city and there are various things you can do. Tipu Sultan is one of the popular emperors of India and this place brings you back to those days when he built his palace & fort here. Visiting this place with a guide can make your experience much better. This post details out about some of the main places to visit in Srirangapatana.
Srirangapatna also hosts the summer palace of Tipu Sultan and his mausoleum. During my trip I visited these places and also crossed some of the important temples in the town. Tipu's Palace is not as grand as other palaces in India, but it has some very interesting wall paintings which are still preserved well. The palace walls are surrounded with green cloth to ensure that outer walls are not exposed to the sun, as it may impact the colors of the paintings.
Srirangapatana town is also famous for a very ancient temple dedicated to Sri Ranganathaswamy , a form of Lord Vishnu. There is also Kalyani Siddhi vinayaka temple in front of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple. Other temples in Srirangapatna include the Lakshminarasimha Swamy Temple, the Sathyanarayana Swamy Temple,Jyothi Mahaswara Temple, the Gangadhareswara Swamy Temple, Bidhcotta Ganesha Temple, the Anjunaya Swamy Temple, the Ayyapa Temple, and RaganathaNagara Ganesha Temple, Lakshmi Temple, Sri raghavendra swamy math on old post office road, surrounding Srirangapatna in fort 8 Ganesh & Anjunaya temples. The Karighatta and its temple of Lord Srinivasa is situated a few kilometres from the town. The deity is that of Kari-giri-vasa (one who resides on the black hill). The renowned Nimishambha Temple is located about 2 km from the town.
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Daria Daulat Bagh - Palace of Tipu Sultan
The Dariya Daulat Palace is surrounded by beautiful gardens called Daria Daulat Bagh. It’s also popularly known as Summer Palace. Tippu Sultan built this palace in 1784. The palace is built in the Indo-Sarcenic style in mostly made of teakwood. The palace has a rectangular plan and is built on a raised platform. Other attractions in Srirangapatna include the Jumma Masjid and the Daria Daulat Gardens. The mosque has stone Arabic inscriptions which mention the 99 different titles given to the Prophet Mohammed , along with the Farsi inscriptions which mentions that the Jamia Masjid called Masjid-E-Ala was built in AD 1782 by Tipu Sultan.
This whole compound has huge green area which is maintained pretty well. Above is the photograph of pigeon house. All the mail-pigeons used to live these structures. On the right is the main entry gate for Tipu's Palace compound. One needs to walk a little to reach the main placae which is in the middle of the green park. Photography is not allowed inside the Tipu Palace, so I don't have any photograph of interiors here.
Here is the photograph from Tipu's place and showing entry gate of the compound on other end. You can notice green landscapes around this place.
Tipu Sultan Gumbaz -
The Gumbaz is an impeccably detailed mausoleum and houses the remains of Tipu Sultan, his father Hyder Ali and his mother Fatima Begum. Apart from these there are various tombs of other relatives surround the gumbaz, some with small signs offering guidance on which specific individuals are buried here. And this whole space is surrounded with lush green gardens which are maintained pretty well.
The outer gumbaz columns are made of amphibolite, a very dark rock that exudes a somber richness. Notice the pillars in above photograph. In whole structure, only these pillars look black. Handcrafted door frames covered in a deep lacquer finish lead into an inner tomb illuminated only by natural light. All visitors are welcome inside, and even encouraged to enter by the friendly doormen.
Above is another building around the main mauseleum and was closed. ASI is written over the gates as Archeological Survey of India maintains this site at Sriranagapatana. Photography is not allowed inside the mausoleum, so I don't have any photograph of interiors here.
Srirangapatana Fort -
Tipu's fort is another interesting place to visit in Sriranagapatana. It's huge so we planned to take a round in our vehicle. And now, lot of families live inside this fort. So there is a city living inside the fort. I noticed some parts are well reserved, although lot of portions of the fort were turned into ruins by britishers.
The above photograph is of the place inside the fort, where Tipu was found dead. As we have read in history, Tipu was murdered in little unknown situations and was cheated by folks inside the fort. Instead of writing half info here, I would recommend to read about the history of this fort on some reliable history channel.
Here is the water gate in Tipu's Fort. This is sort of entry to the place from where you access river water. The fortress is situated in the west of the island, and is surrounded by double walls. The point at which the British broke through the walls, and thus Tipu Sultan's troops surprised, is marked by an obelisk.
There are various temples inside the fort and they are as old as the Tipu's Palace in Sriranagapatana. Most of these photographs are shot fro moving vehicle, so sorry for the bad quality photographs here.
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple
The Ranganthaswamy Temple which is usually referred to as 'Sri Ranganathaswamy' is dedicated to Ranganatha, a manifestation of Vishnu.
It is one of the five important pilgrimage sites along the river Kaveri for devotees of Ranganatha. These five sacred sites are together known as Pancharanga Kshetrams in Southern India. Since Srirangapatna is the first temple starting from upstream, the deity is known as Adi Ranga, and the town of Srirangapatna, which derives its name from the temple, is located on an island in the river Kaveri.
Karighatta viewpoint -
It gives good panorama of Mysore and Srirangapatna cities from a height of 3k feets. Karighatta is a hill situated a few kilometres outside the 'island' town of Srirangapatna. The name Karighatta translates to 'Black Hill' in Kannada . The hill supports dry scrub jungle and many tamarind and gooseberry trees are found around the temple. A small river, Lokapavani, a tributary of Kaveri flows by the hill.
A winding paved road is used for vehicular transport. The stone steps lead to a flat hilltop where the temple stands. The hillock has a superb panoramic view of Srirangapatna and Mysore . The beautiful landscape around the hill and the confluence of the Kaveri and Lokapavani rivers can be seen from the top the hill.
Apart from these there are various other places which I haven't visited yet and would love to explore in my next visit. These include Wellesley Bridge, Nimishamba Temple, Garrison Cemetery, Scott’s Bungalow, Lord Harris's House, FortBailey's Dungeon and Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary
There are various things to experience around Srirangapatana. Horse ride outside the mauseleum and tanga ride near Tipu's palace are 2 options i noticed when i was there.
Here is a photograph of Tanga guy waiting for customers outside Tipu's Palace in Sriranagapatana.
Overall it was a short trip for me and I wish to go there again during winters. Please do share your questions, inputs, feedback and suggestions through comment section below.
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