The tiger's fortress

This one of Karnataka’s best island fortress and often regarded as the best known not only in India but the world over.

Situated at the junction of two rivers, the fortress was initially built by a local chieftain. However, it achieved renown as one of the most impregnable forts only in the 17^th and 18^th century.

Today, the ruins of the fort dominate the island and it still stands in all majesty, a tribute to all those who worked hard to make it a formidable bastion of stone, lime and mortar.

 The fort was breached by the British more than 200 years ago. The breach too stands as it was centuries ago, a mute testimony to the treachery of  a handful of people and the determination of the British to stifle out all dissent and opposition, in their bid to make India their own.

This is the fort of Srirangapatna, just a few miles from Mysore and located on the Bangalore-Mysore Road.

The fort is surrounded by the waters of the Cauvery and Paschimavahini and it one of the best known island forts of India. Though the fort is closely associated with Tipu Sultan and his father, Hyder Ali, not many know that they were not the builders of the fort. They only reinforced, strengthened and at some places added to the already existing fort.

The history of the Srirangapatna fort goes back to the 15^th century when a local chieftain, Thimanna Hebbar of Nagamangala began construction of a mud wall. The then Vijayanagar Emperor, Deveraya, the second, permitted Hebbar to fortify Srirangapatna. The construction commenced sometime in 1454 and when the Vijayanagar dynasty was decisively defeated by the Muslim Kingdoms of  the Deccan in the Battle of Talikota in 1565, Srirangapatna rose to prominence as one of the strongest forts of a truncated and much decreased (in area and size) of the Vijayanagars.

 The fort was the last frontier of the Vijayanagars and when the last Vijayanagar Viceroy of Srirangapatna province, Tirumala Raya lost a battle to Raja Wodeyar in 1601 (This was the battle of Kesare, which today is part of Mysore), the Wodeyars made Srirangapatna their capital and began ruling from there.

The Wodeyar Kings began strengthening the fort walls and in 1654, Kanteerava  Narasaraj Wodeya, the then ruler of the Mysore, rebuilt it.  More than a century later, Tipu Sultan with the help of French engineers, added to the fort structures and strengthened its defenses.

Tipu went in for a double enclosure fort constructed with massive granite blocks. However, the inside of the fort ramparts are made of mud and rubble masonry.

The Srirangapatna fort is shaped like a triangle, and aligned along the northwestern corner of the island so that the eaters of the Cauvery add to the defence. The rugged riverbed form a natural moat on the north and west of the fort. From the air, the fort looks like an irregular pentagon with a

perimeter of about 4 kilometres.

The double moats on the south and east side of the forts were built by Tipu to deter the enemy from gaining easy access. Crocodiles were let into the moats but today they are rather dry. The moats were 30 feet deep.

The moats around the fort were dug under the personal supervision of the French military engineer, Huben. For Tipu, the moats provided the much needed security for a capital which was constantly under enemy attack.

The main entrance to the island city was from the bridges and gateways on the south and eastern side of the fort. Two important gateways – the Mysore Gate and the Elephant Gate face the Bangalore-Mysore highway..

The ruins of Bangalore and Delhi Gates or the water gate have their own tales to tell. The fort was once ringed by 18 watch towers, interspread with cannons.

It  was from the water gate that the British successfully breached the fort. Unfortunately, for Tipu and his family, this was the only passage for them to access water from around the moat without fearing for crocodiles.
The moat today is facing threat from a different kind. A callous and insensitive administration coupled with man’s greed is spelling ruin to this once grand structure.

Debris from the town and the other areas is being dumped into the moat surrounding the fort. Leftovers from chicken, mutton and fish stalls and other garbage are also being thrown into the moat.
The moat near Cauvery Layout in Srirangapatna is partially buried under debris and the situation is similar on the road that connects Thomas Inman’s dungeon. Weeds have grown in the moat.

Just a little away from the Water Gate is the place where Tipu died, valiantly fighting on till his last breath. 

The first of the three Rangas

The post on the three Rangas in the three islands of Srirangapatna, Shivanasamudra and Srirangam which houses the Ranganatha statues has received several queries on places in and around each of the three places.

Several people have asked us about tourist and pilgrim places around each of these three Kshetras or pilgrim places.   

According to belief, if you visit all the three Rangas in a day, you will get a lot of Punya. All the three places are Vaishnava centres and all of them have temples dedicated to Narayana or Ranganatha in a sleeping posture.

All the three temples are located across the Cauvery and they follow and conduct almost the same rituals. You have to start the tour from Srirangapatna by taking a dip in the Cauvery and then head to the other two Rangas. 

While Srirangapatna is known as the Adi Ranga, Shivanasamudra is termed as Madhya Ranga and Srirangam as Antya Ranga. While the first two Rangas are in Karnataka, the third is in Tamil Nadu.

So let me start with places of interest in and around Srirangapatna. All these places can be covered in two days and they are easily accessible by road.

Srirangapatna is an island fortress and it is 110 kilometres from Bangalore, It is easily accessible by both road and rail from Bangalore, Mysore is the nearest City with excellent road and rail communication and it is 19 kms from Srirangapatna.

Srirangapatna is a religious and historic town. This is the place where Tipu Sultan died battling the British on May 4, 1799. Apart from the Ranganatha Swamy Temple, check out the Narasimha Temple nearby.

The place where Tipu died is identified by a small stone slab. It s here that Tipu died fighting. Nearby is the Bailay dungeon where British prisoners of war were held. A little away is an obelisk. The Jama Masji is one of the most elegant structures of the town and it has a sun dial on which Tipu depended for knowing the time.

A little distance away from the main gate of the temple is the recently excavated tunnel leading to the palace of Tipu which is another ruin opposite the Ranganatha Temple. Local lore has it that one of the balconies of the Lal Mahal or palace of Tipu was so built that Tipu could get a glimpse of Ranganatha every day after he got up.

(An interesting aside here is that Tipu never slept in a bed. He slept in a closed room which oversaw the inner courtyard of the palace. The room was sparsely furnished and it had a beautiful hammock on which Tipu slept. The hammock was dismantled after the British ravaged the palace in 1799 and taken away).

A little away from Srirangapatna is Daria Daulat, the palace. It has some excellent paintings and artifacts. It is surrounded by a beautiful garden. Down the road is the Gumbaz is where Tipu is buried along with his father Hyder Ali and his mother.

English and contemporary accounts recount that when the cortege containing the body of Tipu was being escorted to the Gumbaz by British soldiers, heavy rains lashed Srirangapatna. To this day, rain falls on the day Tipu was buried.

A little away from the Gumbaz is Sangam where three rivers meet-Cauvery, Kabini and Hemavathi. This is an excellent boating and picnic spot. This is just three kms from Srirangapatna.

Another place worth a visit is the Nimishamba Temple in Ganjam. This houses the idol of Parvati and since she is supposed to grant a boon within a minute of asking, the place came to be known as Nimishamba. Nimisha in Kannada means a minute. This is 2 kms from Srirangapatna.

Gosai Ghat is another picnic spot. Several Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films have been shot. The Cauvery is at its best here. Enjoy a coracle ride.

Just two kilometres from Gosai Ghat is another scenic spot called Paschima Vahini. There are several heritage buildings and bathing ghats of the Wodayar Emperors here. The heritage buildings and the bathing ghats are in a dilapidated condition.  This ghat is visible from the Bangalore-Mysore highway.

If you still have time, check out the French cemetery in Srirangapatna, Inman’s Prison which was discovered almost a century after Tipu died, Wellesley bridge and several ancient temples.

Ranganathittu

This is one of the best known bird sanctuaries in India. Though it is small, you can spot several species of  birds. The sanctuary adjoins Srirangapatna.

Karighatta

This is a hill on which a temple of Srinivada is situated. It is just a a few kilometres away from Srirangapatna and it is off the Bangalore-Mysore road. Karighatta means Black Hill in Kannada. The srinivasa is called Karigirivasa or Bairagi Venkataramana. The epithet ‘Bairagi’ for this idol is derived from the fact that when alankara  or flower decoration is done to the deity, it resembles a Bairagi or mendicant.

A small river, Lokapavani, a tributary of  Cauvery, flows by the hill. The head to Mysore, the royal city of the Wodeyars.

Mysore

Mysore is 136 kms from Bangalore and 19 kms from Srirangapatna. This is the city of palaces and home to Chamundi, the Goddess, who slew the demon Mahishasura.

The Chamundi temple is located atop the Chamundi Hills which you can either climb or motor up. The Godly museum, the statue of Mahishasura (this is the exact place where he was slain by Chamundi), the Dodda Basava or Nandi, the Rajendra Vilas palace and a few other temples are worth a visit.

A little away from the Chamundi temple is Devi Kola or a tank from which water is drawn to perform abhisheka to Chamunid. Enjoy an unrestricted view of Mysore and its surroundings from the hill. There are a number of buses from Mysore bus stand to the hill. The temple opens from 7 a.m., to 2 p.m., and again from 3-30 p.m., to 9 p.m.

The Jayachamrajendra Zoologial Garden is one of the oldest and the best zoos in India. It has a variety of wildlife. The museum inside is worth a visit. The zoo also houses an Anaconda in a special enclosure. The zoo is opne from 8-30 a.m., and Tuesday is a holiday.

The Regional Museum of Natural History and Melody World wax museum are near to each other. The wax museum is a new addition and it is at the beginning of the Siddarthanagar locality.

The main palace or the Mysore palace is the star attraction of Mysore and it is one of the largest residential palaces in the world. The palace is illuminated in the evenings. This is regarded as among the top five best palaces in the world. There are twelve temples within the fort. Each portion of the magnificent palace has its own tale to narrate.

The palace is a masterpiece of several styles. It was commissioned in 1897 and completed in 1914 and it then cost a little more than Rs. 40 lakhs. It was designed by Sir Henry Irwin, who also designed the Viceregal lodge in Shimla. After the Taj Mahal in Agra, this palace draws the largest number of visitors.

The palace is open to the public from 10 a.m., till 5-30 p.m. The illumination on all Sundays and public holidays is from 7 p.m., to 8 p.m.      

Near to the main palace is the Jaganmohan palace which houses many artifacts. The best among them are the painting of the lady with the lamp and the French musical clock.

This palace was completed in 1861 and it was used by the royal family after the main palace accidentally burnt down during a wedding in 1897. It has one of the largest collection of artifacts in south India. It has several paintings by Raja Ravi Verma, Roerichs and Tagore. The palace is open from 8-30 a.m., to 6 p.m.

The Lalitha Mahal hotel at the foothills of the Chamundi is a five star hotel. Check out the architecturally pleasing building and if you can afford to splurge, have a bite. It is definitely going to burn a hole in your pocket.   

The Manasa Gangotri is the campus housing Mysore University. The Crawford Hall is worth a visit as is the folklore museum. Adjacent to the University is the Kukkaranahalli lake.

The sandal factory and Cauvery emporium are other major attractions. The KRS dam is accessible from Mysore, Mandya or even Srirangapatna. The musical fountain show is in the evenings. The Fountain timings are 7 P.M., to 7.55 P.M., on weekdays and  7 P.M to 8.55 P.M., on holidays.
During winter, the fountain timings are from 6.30 P.M., to 7.25 P.M., on weekdays and from 6.30 P.M. to 8.25 P.M., on holidays The dam is built across the Cauvery and it is a marvel of engineering. The credit for the dam goes to Sir M. Visveshvaraiah.

The Brindavan Gardens of the KRS has been a popular shoot for hundreds of Indian films. It was among the first landscaped gardens of a dam.

Mysore has several temples and other places of interest. The Oriental Reseach Library is one for students and scholars and it was here that the Arthashastra of Kautilya or Chanakya was discovered.

The Railway museum, St. Philomena’s Church, Karanji lake, Ligambudi lake, the Ganapathi Sachidananda Ashrama are other places worth a visit.

Balamuri

Near Mysore is Balamuri where the Cauvery takes a reverse. Upstream is Yadamuri. Both are easily accessible. Balamuri is located midway between Mysore and KRS Dam. The nearest town is Belagola.

Mahadevapura

This is another little known bird sanctuary near Mysore. It is one of the most scenic places around and what makes it attractive is that it is not as well-known as other places.

Sagarkatte

This is a tiny hamlet across the Cauvery 25 kms from Mysore. There is an old Vyasaraja Matha here. The backwaters of the KRS form a beautiful water body. Take a train ride to this place from Mysore and enjoy its beauty. 

Nanjangud

This old temple town is just a few miles (23 kms) from Mysore and it is approachable either by road or rail. The Mysore airport is midway between Mysore and Nanjangud.

The Nanjundeshwara Temple here dedicated to Shiva is one of the biggest in south India. The town is on the banks of Kapila. The deity is also called Srikanteshwara.

Nearby is the temple of Raghavendra Swamy. It is only here that we can see an idol of Raghavendra Swamy. The idol was recovered by a washerman from the Cauvery in Srirangapatna. It is also known for a variety of bananas and tooth powder. It is also home to Ayurvedic products.

A little away from the old Nanjungud railway station is Asia’s oldest railway bridge. This is a heritage structure.

Chamarajanagar

Continue on the Nanjangud road and touch Chamarajanagar which is 38 kms away. This district headquarters is accessible by both road and rail. This is the southern end of Karnataka. This town is famous for the temple of Chamarajeshwara. It is surrounded by several hills stations of which ths most famous is BR Hills. 

 Kanakagiri

Kanakagiri is an important Jain centre. It is the only siddakshetra in South India and the only one for Jainism for performing Kalasarpadosha Parihara pooja. This is 18 kms from Chamarajanagar.

The temple of Parsavanath, one of the Theerthankaras, is atop a hill. The idol is five feet in height and black in colour. Maleyur, three kms away from here, is known for its thick forest cover and its sandalwood.

Melkote

A little more than 34 kms away is one of the finest Vaishanava shrines in India and this is the well-know temple town of  Melkote. It was home to the saint-philosopher, Ramanujacharya, for several years. The Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple and the Yoga Narasimha temples are stunning. The Yoga Narasimha temple is accessible after a steep climb that can leave you exhausted. There is a small cave beneath the Yoga Narasimha temple where Prahalada meditated.

The Mahadwara which is a structure of two massive pillars meant to be the main entrance to the temple town is another monument. This monument has figured in several films.

The Puliyogre handed out at the temple as Prasad is the best of its kind. Taste it and you will feel like having another helping.

Pandavapura

It was known as French rocks during the reign of Hyder Ali and Tipu as the French had based their troops here. The Kunit Betta or hill is the place where Kunti, the mother of Pandavas, stayed during the Vanavasa. The Pandavas ended their exile here and, hence, the name Pandavapura. This is just 10 kms from Srirangapatna and 25 kms from Mysore.

Tonnur

It has two magnificent temple and one of them, the Nambi Narayana, was consecrated by Ramanajucharya. This is a beautiful temple and it is one of the most sacred shrines for Vaishnavas.

It is near Pandavanapur and Melkote.

Tonnur is flanked by the beautiful Tonnur lake which came to be called as Moti Talab by Tipu Sultan.

It was the second capital of the Hoysalas after Dwarasamudra (Halebidu) but none of the Hoysala structures remain. The palace of the Hoysala Emperor, Vishnuvardhana, was built just behind the Nambi Narayana temple but no trace of it remains today.      

All the places mentioned above can be covered in two days if you have the time. They are all nearby and it would be advisible if you hire a driver who can also act as a guide. For example, you can take in Sangama, Gosai Ghat, Daria Daulat, Gumbaz, Nimishamba all in a stretch.

In Mysore, take in Chamundi Hills, Zoological Gardens, Wax museum, Main palace, Jaganmohan palace and KRS Dam in a day. Similarly, Melkote, Tonnur, Pandavapura can be completed in a stretch.

There are plenty of eateries and hotels in Mysore and eating out would not be major problem. Mysore is one of the cities in India that has hotels and eateries to suit you taste and budget. This is the City that gave Mysore Pak and Bisibele bath to its Wodeyar Emperors first. Both the dishes are a rage today among the populace.

Mysore, a few decades ago, was home to the Ideal Jawa motorbike factory which manufactured the legendary Jawa, Yezdi and Roadking bikes. The factory has shut down. It is also the place where the State Government opened its tyremaking unit called Vikrant. This factory too has been privatized.

Mysore is home to one of the most beautiful buildings that is the headquarters of the Infosys Knowledge centre.    

Mysore is easily accessible from all parts of India. There are plenty of trains from Bangalore, Chennai and Hubli-Arsikere. 

This concludes the first part of the Ranga tour. The next part will carry details on road trip from Srirangapatna to Shivanasamudra and the places worth seeing.Till then, happy reading. 

Courted by Kings and Emperors

There is a controversy raging on about gomal or cattle land in Chitradurga which is being away to certain institutions. Environmentalists, Nature lovers and scholars have called the act of giving away the lands as suicidal to the Amrit Mahal cattle.

What is Amrit Mahal and how did it get its name.

The post here aims to bring out certain lesser known facts about Amrit Mahal.

India has no less than 26 distinct breeds of cattle and they are generally classified into three categories. This classification is based on their utility. The first category is milch, the second is draught and the third is dual purpose.

The Amrit Mahal belongs to the draught category and it has been uniformly acknowledged by Kings and Emperors and even the British and others as the best cattle to be used in times of war and hostilities.

The British classified Amrit Mahal as the finest cattle during the reign in India. The Amrit Mahal is also known as Sultan’s breed and this is in honour of Tipu Sultan who reared them in large numbers.

According to legend, the Amrit Mahal was obtained by Hyder Ali from a Paelgar near Mysore and it was later patronised by his son Tipu Sultan. The breed received special attention from both Hyder and Tipu and they used the cattle extensively in their campaigns.

Historically, Srirangaraya, the Viceroy of Vijayanagar in Srirangapatna, is credited with development of cattle on modern lines when he imported large herds of  Hallikar cattle from Vijayanagar to  breed in Srirangapatna. He called the cattle department Karu Hatti. This was sometime in 1600.  

The British had the first whiff of the breed’s superiority when Srirangapatna fell to them on May 4, 1799 and Tipu was killed in the fourth and final battle of Srirangapatna.

The marauding British soldiers came across large stocks of the breed and the size, shape and bone structure of the massive Amrit Mahal amazed a person no less than Arthur Wellesley. These cattle were looked after by an exclusive department first called Amrit Mahal and then Karen Berek. The British found more than 10,100 Amrit Mahal cattle of the finest breed in Srirangapatna.

When the British returned the Mysore Kingdom to the Wodeyars, the capital was shifted from Srirangapatna to Mysore. The British placed the herd under the care of the Mysore Government and in 1813, the Madras Government took the large herd under its direct control. The Wodeyars renamed the cattle department as Benne Chavadi.

The Commissariat of Madras assumed full powers over the breed though they kept it in Mysore. Initially, Captain Harvey of Madras was kept in charge of the breeding establishment. By 1816, the herd increased in numbers to 14,399  and by 1823 there were more than 28,000 cattle.

For more than five decades, the herd was maintained by the Wodeyars for the British. However, in 1860, the then Governor of Madras, Charles Trevelyan, ordered the sale of cattle. Charles is regarded as the founder of the modern British civil services.

He was the Governor of Madras from 1859 to 1860 and he was the brother-in-law of Thomas Macaulay.  He was recalled to England when he opposed financial reforms proposed by the Calcutta Government.

Charles felt that the British could save money by closing down the establishment. The herds were sold to Indians and the company made a neat profit but this was one of the most short sighted decisions of the Madras Government.

The British soon realised their folly and they once again sought the assistance of the Wodeyars in reestablishing the cattle breeding centre. The gracious Maharaja obliged and in December 1867,  the breeding centre was reestablished with 5935 cattle. Their numbers increased to 9800 by 1871.

The British allowed the Maharaja to station some Amrit Mahal at various places in the Mysore Kingdom so that it could improve the breed. The Mysore Government allotted 208 kavals or pasture grounds for Amrit Mahal and the one at Chitradurga is part of this.   

The Amrit Mahal comprise three varieties: Hallikar,
Hagalvadi and Chitaldroog and the names indicate the places from where the breed originated.

B. L. Rice and other British chroniclers have heaped praise on the peculiar shape and beauty of the head of Amrit Mahal and the symmetry of their form. “They seldom attain an extraordinary height, but in proportion to their size are remarkably deep and wide in the chest, long and broad in the back, round in the barrel, well ribbed up and strong in the shoulder and limb,” says Rice.

The British found the Amrit Mahal to be active, fiery and walk faster than the troops. When Wellesley engaged Napolean in the Eurpoean theatre of war, he was often heard and he has also written letters regretting the lack of Amrit Mahal cattle in the battle field.

The British admired the endurance and strength of the Amrit Mahal. They found that Hyder had often travelled upto 100 miles with these beasts of burden. The British used the breed during the Afghan war where they tirelessly served the Army for upwards of 16 hours.

Coming back to the Amrit Mahal and the British, the Madras Government sent a large number of them to Egypt for service on the Khedive (1867-1914), an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire.

By then, the Mysore Government had set up another breeding centre for Amrit Mahal at Hunsur. The best grazing ground was however in Sillikere in Shimoga and at Hanagad near Hunsur.

Today, the State possesses 63,000 acres of Amrit Kaval land and they are mainly located in the districts of  Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Davangere, Tumkur, Hassan and Mandya.

By the way, the Wodeyars had set aside a fairly large tract of land in Lalbagh for growing grass which they fed to Amrit Mahal. Today, the grassland is gone and it has been replaced by flowering trees. Is this a sign that the other grasslands will be swallowed up by man and Amrit Mahal would become history.

The Makaana which is forgotten

This is the Makaana or a clump of wilderness amid sugarcane fields and agricultural lands. It is only a few miles north-east of Mysore and on the Srirangapatna-Mysore Highway.

A canal carrying the Cauvrey water flows nearby and the Varuna canal overhead casts a long shadow. A few decades ago, a cluster of Muslim graves were part of the Makaana. But the graves have been uprooted and only the remnants of a wall and a few pieces of brick and mortar indicate the presence of civilisation.

The wilderness did play and important role in Indian history but as is our wont, we have forgotten it and there are only a handful of people who are aware of its importance. It was at this very spot, and more than two centuries ago, that Arthur Wellesley was defeated in a battle by Dewan Purnaiah in the fourth and final Anglo-Mysore War in 1799.

More importantly, this battle which occurred a few days before the death of Tipu Sultan, gave the shivers to Wellesley. The rockets that the Mysore army of Tipu fired upon the British at this place sent the British scurrying back to safety. Wellesley was wounded and barely escaped capture and death.

Had Wellesley been taken prisoner on that day or had the Mysore forces pressed their advantage and gone after the demoralized British, perhaps the war would not have ended in the defeat and death of Tipu Sultan.

The rocket attack had such a psychological impact in Wellesley that even years after the death of Tipu and even decades after e defeated Napolean Bonaparte, Wellesley confessed to still have nightmares about this place.

Today, a clump of  trees is all that is the remnant of  this epoch event, which has been totally ignored by Indians and downplayed to the extent of being trivalised by the British and other Western authors and sources.

This is the village of Sultanpet, which once was a satellite town on the Srirangapatna-Mysore Highway. The land between Srirangapatna and Sultanpet was full of farms and parts of it was heavily forested.

Tipu  Sultan had stationed a contingent of  rocketmen under Purnaiah at Sultanpet. Since the contingent was well hidden from the prying eyes of the British and their advance party, Wellesley had no knowledge about it.

The British, by then, were advancing towards Srirangapatna from all sides. It was pitch dark of April 5, 1799, when an enthusiastic 30-year old Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Wellesley led the King’s 33rd Regiment of  Foot into a tope or mangrove which also had coconut and betel trees near Sultanpet.

The town of Sultanpet looked deserted and seeing no resistance, Wellesley advanced towards the fields and the clump of forest. That was when the Mysore Army opened rocket fire. The British troops scattered and ran back to their camp, a defeated and dispirited unit. Wellesley lost himself in the forest and the dark night was all the more aggravating for him as he had been shot in his limb-he had been hit by a spent musket-ball in the knee and he went back hobbling with pain and humiliated at his only defeat.

Wellesley had inadvertently led his men into a trap. Some of the rocketeers had worked their way around to the rear of the British encampment and they fired rockets simultaneously to signal the beginning of an assault by 6,000 Indian infantry and a corps of Frenchmen, all directed by Mir Gulam Hussain and Muhammed Hulleen and Mir Mirans.

The rockets had a range of about 1,000 yards. While some burst in the air like shells, others-ground rockets- on striking the ground, rose again and bound along in a serpentine motion until their force was spent.

It was by pure luck and nothing else that Wellesley managed to evade the Mysore Army. He came back to the camp and brooded the whole night over his defeat and also the capture of twelve soldiers who were subsequently by Tipu in Sriurangapatna. The next day, he determined to avenge his humiliation and he marched, all prepared to give a fitting reply. But much of the Army had already withdrawn from the tope of Sultanpet and only a small unit was left behind.

Wellesley had his way and he defeated the unit and marched onwards to Srirangapatna where he joined the other British forces. When Srirangapatna was captured and pillaged on May 4, 1799, Sultanpet too met a similar fate. Almost all the buildings in the village were razed to the ground and only a small wall, part of a mosque and graves were left. Even these buildings were razed to the ground a few years ago.

Neither the graves nor the Cenotaphs that once proclaimed the names of the people who were buried here can be seen today. The meandering canal makes a fairly large circular detour and the wilderness seems like an island surrounded by lush green paddy fields.

The village of Sultanpet exists but its history is gone and the monuments ravaged by the British and then by insensitive Indians. British historians like Beatson and Frances Buchanan and even Macaulay who has written an account of Srirangapatna, Bangalore and Mysore have studiously ignored the Battle of Sultanpet or glossed over it.

The villagers still point to the place they earlier called Makaana. The only relic of the past appears to be the portion of a wall of a large building.

Today, there is no trace of the battlefield though parts of the tope can still be seen. There is not even a caption or sign board by the ASI or any other body identifying the place. Sultanpet today exists only in history books and it has long been forgotten by the lakhs who traverse the busy Bangalore Mysore road everyday.

Tourists and visitors to Srirangapatna and Mysore are given a talking to on the bravery and exploits of Hyder Ali, Tipu and the rather remarkable achievements of the Wodeyars. None of them, however, even have an inkling of the military importance that Sultanpet once had and the deep impact it left permanently on the future Duke of Wellington who later went on defeat Napolean in the European theatre of war.   

As far as the Government and the authorities go, they have given short shrift to a place that the British would never like to remember. Certainly not Wellesley, who woke up at night, having a nightmare of Sultanpet. The nightmare continued till Wellesley died or so says his biographer Forrest. Another biographer, Wellington: The Iron Duke [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)
by Richard Holmes, also alludes to the nightmare and the defeat at Sultanpet. 

A King who was a Jacobian

Though much has been written about Tipu Sultan and his times, there are still many facets of his life that are not well known.

While everyone knows that Tipu hated the British and tried his best to throw them out of the country, not many know that Tipu wanted to send one of his sons to France for higher education and that he had even approached Frenchmen stationed in Srirangapatna, his capital, for this purpose.

The powers that be at France had agreed to Tipu’s suggestion but they had felt that it would be better if Tipu’s sons learnt French before coming over to France. They had suggested that Tipu’s sons learn French from a tutor in Srirangapatna and then embark to France. 

Another little known fact is that Tipu was one of the founder member of the Jacobian Club of Srirangapatna. A  piece of paper discovered in his library after Tipu’s death on May 4, 1799 in Srirangapatna testified to this fact.

The paper was entitled “Proceedings of a Jacobin Club formed at Seringapatam by the French Soldiers in the Corps commanded by M.Dompart”.

A Scotsman, Capt W Macleod, attested to the authenticity of the paper. The paper listed by name 59 Frenchmen in the pay of 'Citizen Tippoo' as it described the Sultan. It further said that  a gathering of a Primary Assembly was held in Srirangapatna on May 5, 1797, to elect a President, Francois Ripaud, and other officers.

The gathering proclaimed the “Rights of Man”, and Ripaud then  lectured the members on Republican principles. Further deliberations and formalities followed before, on 14th May, the National flag was ceremonially raised and a small delegation were formally received by Tipu.

Tipu, the “Citizen Prince” ordered a salute of 2,300 cannon, all the musketry and 500 rockets, with a further 500 cannon firing from the Fort. A Tree of Liberty was planted in his palace in Srirangapatna on May 15, 1797 and crowned with a Cap of Equality, before Ripaud challenged his co-patriots: “Do you swear hatred to all Kings, except Tippoo Sultaun, the Victorious, the Ally of the French Republic - War against all Tyrants, and love towards your Country and that of Citizen Tippoo.”Yes! We swear to live free or die,' they replied.

Tipu Sultan then became a founder-member of the Jacobin Club. While accepting the membership, he said of France, “Behold my acknowledgement of the standard of your country, which is dear to me, and to which I am allied; it shall always be supported in my country, as it has been in the Republic, my sister!”.

The Sultan was thus named as “Citizen Tipu”. Tipu remained and even now remains the only Indian King who was a member of the Jacobian club. Unfortunately, neither the French nor the club could stave off the British conquest of Srirangapatna and the subsequent death of  the Sultan. When Srirangapatna fell, the Jacobian Club automatically wound up.

Though the Jacobin Club at his court and later in India died down, its influence on France was tremendous. It led to the French revolution and the club was so named after the Dominican convent where its members first met.

In France, the club of thousands of chapters totaling more than 4.2 lakhs members. The club closed down after the fall of Robespierre.

Today, there is no trace of the tree in Srirangapatna. The palace of Tipu is in ruins. Except for the many graves of Frenchmen who fought alongside Tipu, there is no trace of the French connection in Srirangapatna today.

The piece of paper that was found in Tipu’s library is long gone too. However, the ideas of the club found expression in the French revolution and its slogan of liberty, equality and fraternity.

He lived and died like a Tiger

Today, May 4, happens to be the day the Tiger of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, was killed in the battle of Srirangapatna, and even 215 years after his death, he still mains a controversial figure, a hero and freedom fighter for some,  a religious bigot and ill tempered person for others.

While many call him the first freedom fighter of India, there are others who say that Tipu (November 20, 1750-May 4, 1799) was dictated by avarice and the prevailing conditions of south India then. They say much of his actions was the result of his ambition to extend his kingdom. Whatever the contradictory stand, the trust lies somewhere between.

At the post, we would first like to remember Tipu as a man who laid down his life. Yes, it is true and there are sufficient historical records to prove that the Sultan did sue for peace but when he found the terms demeaning and humiliating, he decided to go all out for war. “It is far better to live like a Tiger for a day than to live like a jackal for a hundred years”, he said.

The British army was more than 50,000 strong and it was reinforced by troops sent by the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas. Tipu, all put together, had just 30,000 men. The British Army had arrived at Tipu’s capital after defeating the Mysore Army at several places.

Tipu was perfectly aware that the Cauvery would be fordable for all but four months in an year and in May when the British under General Harris mounted an attack on Srirangapatna, the river was just a little more than four feet deep and the northern part of the island fortress was weak. It had only three cannons. Tipu had taken extra precautions to ensure that the British could not enter the fort. He had stationed some of his best troops on the northern part and near the present Water Gate (from where today we go to the bathing ghats of Srirangapatna). Unfortunately, for him when the tome came for Namaz and lunch, he left for his palace which was nearby and this too today is in ruins and it is in front of the Ranganatha Temple.

British and even Indian records indicate that it was sometime around 1 p.m., when a group of British soldiers, 76 to be precise, managed to scale the breach on the northern part and enter the area between two forts. This they managed to do after Mir Sadiq, a minister of Tipu  and a Commander called back the men from guard duty to take their pay.

Mir Sadiq had entered into negotiations with the British. They had promised him the Mysore Kingdom if he joined them and helped them in the war. Tipu had earlier imprisoned Mir Sadiq when he was told about his confidant hobnobbing with the British. Mir Sadiq then had begged for mercy and he had also pleaded innocence, saying that his enemies had poisoned the Sultan’s mind against him. Tipu had pardoned Mir Sadiq and restored him to his position.

Sadiq had all along been in touch with the British and he had given them sufficient information about Tipu, his preparations, supplies and other details. But his greatest act of betrayal was the recall of soldiers and the raising of a flag near the present Water Gate to signal to the British that the coast was clear.

Tipu had pitched his tent here. There were two forts at Srirangapatna. The outer fort and an inner one. In Kannada, this place is called Kalale Doddi as it was constructed by Devaraj, a minister of the Wodeyar dynasty and the Regent of Mysore who hailed from Kalale, a small village near Nanjangud. Tipu had closed this gate around 1793.

Tipu had constructed a temporary shelter here by using curtains and he had pitched four tents around. He had with him his eunuchs, body guards and personal servants. It was from here, he was dictating the course of the war.      

Tipu went back to his palace around 10 a.m., where he took his bath and then came down to the Kalale Doddi. He once again looked out from the ramparts and ordered the soldiers to fill in the breach. He then retired  to his curtained enclosure and he had just taken a morsel when he heard several sounds or rather shouts. When he realized that the British had hoisted the Union Jack on his beloved fort, he  rode into the thick of battle on horseback. He was told that one of his most trusted men, Syed Ghafoor, was killed. Tipu decided against publicising news of the death and asked another able commander, Mohammad Quasim, to take over.

When Tipu saw the British scaling the outer wall and entering the space between the outer and inner fort (there is no trace of the inner fort today It was destroyed by the British in the war and subsequently pulled down), he jumped into the fray. It is here that the second betrayal occurred. Even as he was fighting the British with a band of loyal followers and soldiers, including a few women bodyguards,  the gate of the inner fort as deliberately closed, pinning the Sultan in the narrow space and giving him little room to manouvre.

The British began closing in on the small but fierce band of Mysore soldiers who kept up a relentless defense. They quickly realised that they would have to overcome this band if they were to enter the inner fort. One of the British soldiers managed to shoot Tipu’s horse, which then fell taking its master with it. Tipu’s man servant, Raja Khan urged the Sultan to reveal his identity. To this the Sultan had only a glare and the words, “Are you mad”.  His turban slipped to  the ground and his robes were covered with blood and dust. The British could not make out Tipu from others and he died a martyr’s death.

Once his band was silenced, the British had it easy and by afternoon, the battle was almost over. The British soon entered the town and began ravishing and raping Srirangapatna. By then, there were several rumours floating around about Tipu. Some said he had fled: Others said he was in hiding and that he would launch a fierce counter attack. The British along with Mir Sadiq and others began checking the bodies for Tipu as yet another rumour said he had been killed.

Tipu’s body was identified by his faithful servant, Raja Khan. Even them the British dare not believe that the Tiger was dead. Some among them said they saw the Sultan alive. It was then that Lord Wellesley felt the Sultan’s pulse and declared him dead.

The British immediately summoned a palanquin from the palace and placed Tipu’s body in it. The palanquin was then conveyed to the palace where it was laid in state. He was then given a State burial with the British troops escorting his body to the Place where his father Hyder Ali, was buried.

When Tipu’s body was about to be buried, the skies opened up and it began raining so heavily that one of the British officer,  Lieutenant Richard Bayly of the British 12th regiment wrote, “I have experienced hurricanes, typhoons, and gales of wind at sea, but never in the whole course of my existence had I seen anything comparable to this desolating visitation.”

It seems even Nature had conspired against Tipu. Had the rains struck Srirangapatna a day earlier, there could have been no chance of the British fording the river.

However, one of the most outstanding tributes to Tipu was paid by Sir Walter Scot, the novelist, who referring to the abdication of the throne of France by Napoleon Bonaparte said, “Although I never supposed that Napoleon possessed, allowing for some difference of education, the liberality of conduct and political views which were sometimes exhibited by old Hyde Ali, yet I did think he might have shown the same resolved and dogged spirit of resolution which induced Tipu Sahib to die manfully upon the breach of his capital city with his sabre clenched in his hand.”

What the post would like to say is that unlike other Emperors and Kings, Tipu neither bent nor bowed before the British. He could have entered into a peace treaty with the British and kept his Kingdom. He did not and we have to appreciate this aspect. He fought to the end and he died a martyr’s death. You can love him or hate him, you cannot ignore him. To this day, even more than 200 years after his death, Tipu continues to inflame extreme views and passions. What is lost in this confrontation is his everlasting contribution to Mysore State and the jolt he and his father gave the British several times.    

Notes on botany that made its way from Edinburg to Tipu's library

He was a physician but today he is more known for his contribution in the field of botany, zoology and geography. He studied medicine in the University of Edinburg and also botany under John Hope.

Hope (1725-1786) was a Scottish physician and botanist. He is best known as an early supporter of  Carl Linnaeus system of classification. The genus Hopea is named after him.

He was a fairly good student and he had taken detailed notes on botany when he attended several lectures on the subject, including those from Hope.

However, he soon joined the Merchant Navy and then service in the East India Company. He was a physician to William Hastings, the Governor-General and he was asked to survey the province of Mysore in 1800 after the death of Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatna in 1799.

He conducted the first scientific survey of south India and described in detail the plants, customs, tradition, anthropology, social and economic condition of the people of the Mysore Kingdom.  

He started his journey for the survey from Madras and came to Vellore and from there halted at Bangalore. When in Bangalore, he saw and described Lalbagh for the first time and from there he proceeded down south towards Srirangapatna.

He stayed back in Srirangapatna for a little over two weeks and with the help of a Kannadiga who could also speak Sanskrit he met the officials and royals of the Mysore Kingdom.

During one of his visits to the palace of Tipu Sultan where the wives and sons of Tipu still resided, this Englishman was handed over the notes he had made on botany at Edinburg. He was told by the Englishman in charge of Tipu’s library that the notes were found neatly bound in Tipu’s library when the British stormed Srirangapatna and took the fort town.

The notes belonged to none other than Francis Buchanan and it was Buchanan himself who had been asked to undertake the survey of Mysore.

Buchanan recalled that the detailed notes on botany that he had taken down was in the summer of 1780 and that he had handed the notes to his friend, Boiswell.

Bosiwell had accidentally left the notes in a trunk when Tipu had defeated the British in a battle in south India. When the book was presented to him as part of the booty seized from the British camp, Tipu had released that it dealt with botany, a subject dear to his heart.

Tipu had the notes bound in tooled leather and kept in a prominent place in his personal library. When the British took Srirangapatna and overran the town, they came across this book in Tipu’s vast library.

Tipu's library was listed by Major Ogg and later all the books were shifted to the Asiatic Societies of Calcutta and of London. When they realised that Buchanan had been engaged by Hastings to commence his survey of Mysore Kingdom, they had kept the book aside in Srirangapatna itself and handed it back to him when he came to Srirangapatna on May 23, 1800, a little more than an year after Tipu died.

Buchanan noticed that all the volumes that had been rebound at Srinangapatna and “that they have the names of God, Mohammed, his daughter Fatima, and her sons Hasan and Hasain, stamped in a medallion on the middle of the dover, and the names of the first four Khalifs on the four corners. At the top is “The government given by God” and at the bottom, “God is sufficient”.

A few books were stamped with the private signet, “Tipu Sultan”. The Buchanan manuscript was similarly decorated.

Buchanan brought back his notes to Scotland and the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburg, where it remains even today.

Srirangapatna as Buchanan saw it

Though Tipu Sultan died just over two hundred years ago, he has continued to generate interest among both Indians and foreigners. He is one person you can either love or hate. Ignore him you cannot as he has emerged as a controversial figure with people taking diametrical opposite views on him.

While he is generally looked upon as a man who opposed the British, the Mandya Iyengars to this day point out to the massacre of their ancestors by Tipu and the same goes for the people of the Malabar in Kerala and Catholics of Mangalore.

The recent controversy over naming of a university after Tipu has further widened the chasm between those who love and respect Tipu and others who see in him a bigot who persecuted Hindus, was a mercenary and one who tried to put down the legitimate Wodeyars of Mysore.

Many of the news and articles on Tipu today are coloured by extreme views and there are few pieces which can be described as dispassionate and disinterested portrait of the Tiger of Mysore.

One of the few accounts of the life and times of Tipu and his favourite island city of Srirangapatna is by Francis Buchanan.

Dr Francis Buchanan, later known as Francis Hamilton but often referred to as Francis Buchanan-Hamilton (1762-1829) was a Scotish physician who made significant contributions as a geographer, zoologist and botanist while in India.

The standard botanical author abbreviation Buch.-Ham. is applied to plants and animals he described, though today the form Hamilton, 1822 is more usually seen in ichthyology and is the preferred fishbase.

He conducted a survey of  the then Mysore Kingdom in 1899, just an year after Tipu was slain in the fourth and final Anglo-Mysore war in Srirangapatna on May 4, 1799.  

Much of the social, religious and anthropological details of Mysore State, including Canara and Malabar, are contained in the Mysore survey that he undertook for several months.

The results of the survey were published in his “A Journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar”, where he has devoted an entire chapter-the second-to Srirangapatna and another to Bangalore.

Buchanan says he came down to Srirangapatna from Madras via Vellore and Bangalore. He reached Srirangapatna on May 18, 1800 and the next day he had an interview with Purnaiah, whom he calls Purnea, the Dewan of the Raja of Mysore (Wodeyar) and during the Prince's minority, the chief administrator of his Government.

Buchanan was provided with the services of a Brahmin who had orders to accompany him everywhere.

In his short description of Purnaiah, the writer says he is a from Coimbatore and that his native is Tamil but he speaks Kannada, Marathi, Mussalaman (Urdu) and Persian. He says the Dewan is called Sri Mantra.

However, he says Purnaiah wielded less power than Mir Sadiq, the confidant of Tipu who finally betrayed him.

Buchanan was in Srirangapatna from May 20 to June 5 and he says he took in everything remarkable in Srirangapatna and its neighbourhood.

He begins his description of the island fortress by describing the Cauvery and the stone bridge which elicits his admiration. He then goes on to talk of the need to construct one more bridge and says discussions are on to share the expenses between the British and the new Raja-Mysore Wodeyars.

He says the new bridge would cost 16,000 pagodas.

He then goes on to describe the Ramghanatha temple which he says is of  “much higher antiquity” than the town itself.

Buchanan went around the fort and he describes them as immense, unfinished, unslightly and an injudicious mass of building. Tipu, he says, seems to have a too high opinion of himself and did not consult the French while building the fort.

He then speaks of an inner fort with several traverses which Tipu himself defended. Here, Buchanan pays tribute to the Sultan. He points out that the English could advance slowly and that Tipu retired slowly, defending his ground with obstinacy. He then described how Tipu inadvertently got himself boxed inbetween the two forts but there is not much description on how he was killed.

Then follows several paragraphs of how the Englishmen and others pillaged, plundered and ransacked Srirangapatna.

He says women came out of their homes and stood in groups on the streets to avoid being raped or harassed. The last remnants of Tipu’s army fled to the Jamia masjid and other places and when they staggered back the next day, they were attended to by English doctors.

For Buchanan, the city of  Srirangapatna is poor and its streets narrow. The streets are more confused than anywhere else, he says. Nobody was allowed to own property here and Tipu allotted quarters and withdrew them at his will.

The houses are hot and inconvenient. Many of the chiefs fell at Siddeswara and then at the storming of Srirangapatna. Some were pensioned off by the company while others joined service with the Nawab of Arcot.

He then jumps to Mysore and says how Tipu planned to construct a fort. When the siege commenced, work on the fort stopped and there were sheds or huts for workmen which was where the young Wodeyar was enthroned.

He says the throne to Wodeyar was presented by the East Indian Company and that Col Close was the Resident on whom the young Prince relied a lot.

Buchanan makes a reference to the Dalwais and the role they played to help out the Wodeyars against Tipu. He then claims that Mir Sadiq, on orders from Tipu, had imprisoned the Wodeyars in their palace in Srirangapatna and that Mir Sadiq had stripped the Royals of all their jewels and ornaments.

He claims that when Srirangapatna was stormed, none of the royals had an idea of what had been going on.   

Buchanan then again comes back to Srirangapatna and talks about the palace of Tipu which he describes as a very large building surrounded by lofty walls of mud and stone and which outwardly is of “mean appearance”.

He found that some of the handsome apartments in the palace have been converted into barracks for the troops.

Tipu’s private apartments formed a square, in one side was the rooms which he used. The other three sides were occupied by warehouses in which Tipu deposited a vast quantity of goods for he acted not only as a Prince but also a merchant.

These goods, Buchanan says, were sold at a much higher prices by the Amildars and Tipu thus gained huge profits. “The three sides of the square are now  occupied by the sons of the Sultan -five of them-who are not yet removed to Vellore. They are well looking boys and are permitted to ride and exercise themselves in the square when they are so desirous”.

The apartment most commonly used by Tipu was a large lofty hall upon front and on the other three sides shut up from ventilation, In this, he was wont to sit and write, and plan many schemes.

The principal front of this palace also served as a revenue office and it was also the place from where Tipu showed himself to the populace which gathered below.

The entry to his private quarters was through a strong narrow passage where he had chained four tigers.

Within this was the hall of Tipu Sultan into which very few persons, except Meer saheb, were admitted. Behind this was his bed chamber which communicated with the hall by a door and two windows. The door was strongly secured from the inside and a close iron grating defended the windows.

The sultan, lest any person fire on him, slept on a hammock, which was suspended from the roof by chains. In the hammock were a pair of swords and a pistol. The only other passage from this private quarters was into the Zenana or women's apartments. Buchanan says there were 600 women, when the palace was taken by the British troops.

Outside Srirangapatna are two other palaces which are now occupied by the Resident and Commandant of the British forces. The gardens are laid out at considerable expense. He says the palace at Lalbagh is the handsomest building he has ever seen. Near to it is the mausoleum of Hyder where Tipu is buried.

Buchanan also discounts the native estimate that Srirangapatna had nearly five lakhs people within its fortifications. He counted the number of houses and says the number would not exceed a few thousands.

Buchanan them once again made his way to Bangalore and from Bangalore he travelled to Doddaballapur, Chikaballapur, Nandi Hills and Mangalore.  

In Bangalore, he visited the Lalbagh and he leaves a short description of the gardens. He credits Hyder with the founding of Bangalore.

Buchanan’s accounts are fairly accurate and his description of Srirangapatna and its surroundings are a testimony to the painstaking job that he carried out at the behest of the Governor-General Wellesley.  

Tunnels of Gajendra Moksha

History is generally linked with myths and legends and it is difficult to sift one from the other. It becomes an impossible task in India as our country has a rather poor record of writing history .

Much of India’s ancient history and here I am talking about the Vedic Age, Epic Age and even phases in ancient Indian history, where the spoken word was given importance and Kings and Emperors deemed it haughty, unbecoming and egoistic to write down their achievements. Things did change for the better when the Muslims invaded India and since then writers were employed in the court to pen down the life history of the Emperors.

Thus, we have Abu Fazl, the courtier of  the Mughal Emperor, Akbar, writing Ai-i-Albari.  Another book is Jahangir Nama, an autobiography by Akbar’s successor, Jahangir.

In the south too, the Muslim Kingdoms commissioned historians and writers to write about their court and achievements. Thus, we have fairly accurate accounts of the reigns of the Adil Shahi Kings of Bijapur, the Nizam Shahis of Golconda, the Bahamanis of Gulbarga and Bidar  and even the Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar in Hampi.

However, even in the south, historical accounts have got themselves mixed up with myths and legends and it rather becomes a painstaking task to get to the truth.

Several such myths exist even today about Hyder Ali and his valorous son and heir Tipu Sultan who ruled the Mysore Kingdom with Srirangapatna as their capital.

Though Tipu died on May 4, 1799 and the Mysore Kingdom reverted to the Wodeyars who then shifted the capital from Srirangapatna to Mysore, myths and legends still abound about Tipu and even about Srirangapatna.

New discoveries in Srirangapatna seem to give a fresh impetus to the mystery of Tipu and he has now become a larger than life personality.

Almost a hundred years after his death, a new underground dungeon was accidentally discovered in Srirangapatna. A few months ago, two tunnels were discovered adjacent to the sprawling Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangapatna.

Archaeologists are still studying the “whys” and “hows” of the tunnels. They were discovered when the Gajendra Moksha Kalyani or pond adjacent to the Ranganatha temple was being cleaned.

The discovery gives credence to stories of Tipu that he had an underground tunnel running from his palace to the Ranganatha temple which he used often. Another story tells us that he could see the idol from the balcony of his palace which was situated opposite the temple.

Officials of the Indian Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have dubbed it the most sensational archaeological discoveries in the history of Srirangapatna.

There are several stories that tell us how these tunnels were used by members of the royal family-Wodeyars and even Hyder and Tipu-and their military generals.

The first tunnel, which measured three feet in diameter, was found by workers while digging up the Gajendra Moksha pond. The workers discovered another tunnel shortly after stumbling on the first.

The ASI officials found that the tunnels are interlinked and diversify in various directions. Work is still on to find out more about the tunnels, their usage and when they were constructed.

However, some locals that I met, including temple officials, said the first tunnel may have been used to draw water from the river to fill the pond. However, the reasons for constructing the other tunnel, one of which was found near Tipu's Palace, are yet to be established.

Apart from the tunnel,  an ancient cellar was also discovered at the Gajendra Moksha Kalyani. The cellar and the tunnels were discovered during the desilting of the pond, as per the instructions of District in-charge secretary Amar Narayan.

When the renovation, a Banni tree which had taken root in the pond and existed since the past 30 years, was uprooted and it was replanted elsewhere.

The desilting was taken up as the famous Rathasapthami festival was scheduled to commence on February 17. It is on this occasion that the temple elephant Gajendra takes a holy dip in the Kalyani. This has been the age-old practice.

As the desilting work commenced, two smaller tunnels going in opposite directions within the main larger tunnel were discovered.
As I mentioned earlier, Tipu Sultan shared a close bond with  Ranganatha Swamy and he had constructed a big tunnel connecting his palace to the temple. He had also constructed other small tunnels to be used during emergencies in war.

What the discovery shows is that there may still be other artifacts of the period of the Wodeyars and Hyder-Tipu period that need more detailed study and monuments that need to be excavated and studied.

No wonder, historians and archaeologists always maintain that buildings tell tales. Want to as to the tale. Please check pout the tunnels and the Kalyani and for that you have to visit Srirangapatna. What better way to spend the searing Summer than drive early in the morning to the island on the Cauvery, check out the local history of Srirangapatna, watch the birds of Ranganathittu and laze around the Cauvery.  

Where else but in India could you visit a huge temple, swim in a nearby river, walk on the ramparts of a magnificent fort and go bird seeing.