Srirangapatna – Mysore Trip Part 1

Mysore, known as the cultural capital of Karnataka, is a must-visit if you come up-to Bangalore for even a week.  As for Srirangapatna, made famous by Tippu Sultan and more so by the TV series “the Sword of Tipu Sultan” aired on Doordarshan :), it lies on the way to Mysore from Bangalore. So, visits from in-laws and my parents resulted in two trips to Srirangapatna and Mysore. Here is my travelogue based on the two visits – first part about Srirangapatna and second part on Mysore.

Getting there – We had hired a cab on the km rate basis and left as early as 7 am which is advisable if you want to cover many places in one day. There are trains to Mysore from Bangalore and Srirangapatna is just 15 kms away from Mysore. So you can chart up a trip that way too. Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation also provides a one day tour of Srirangapatna and Mysore so you can check that out too.

The road to Srirangapatna, State Highway 17, passes through the Ramanagara and Channapatna towns of Karnataka. Ramanagara is famous for its silk market and is known as Silktown. Also it is famous for being the location for shooting of the famous Hindi movie, Sholay. Channapatna is famous for its wooden toys.  We didn’t have time to stop at these places. Maybe next time we will make an exclusive trip to these places only.

Srirangapatna – A historically rich town made famous by Hyder Ali and his son, Sher-e-Mysur (The Tiger of Mysore), Tipu Sultan. The entire town is enclosed by the river Cauvery to form a river island. The places we visited were

# Place of Martyrdom or The Obelisk – It is the spot where Tippu Sultan breathed his last in the legendary battle of Srirangapatna against the British in 1799. He was killed due to the betrayal of his own men. His body lay there for two days before it was noticed by the locals. The commemorative Obelisk is located in a small envelopment into which one is not allowed to enter.

The Obelisk

# Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple– The town derives its name from this very famous temple. This ancient temple enshrines Lord Vishnu as Lord Ranganatha in his reclining posture on the bed laid out by the serpent Aadi Sesha. This temple is a very important Vaishnavite shrine of South India. There are many other shrines like Ranganayaki, Narasimha, Sudarshana, Gopalakrishna, Srinivasa, Rama and Panchamukha Anjaneya in the beautiful and exquisite temple complex. Camera is not allowed inside the temple. There are a lot of shops outside the temple where one can shop for some souvenirs. Do bargain. Also there are small food shops and plenty of coconut water sellers which is a must have especially in the sunny weather. There is a nice park too where one can sit on benches and eat. We had brought our own breakfast so had a sort of picnic at the park :) There is a paid bathroom facility few metres away from the temple. Darshan Timings: 07.30 am to 01.00 pm and 04.00 pm to 08.00 pm

Ranganatha Swamy Temple

Temple Complex

# Dariya Daulat Bagh– The whole place comprises of a huge garden and a palace constructed by Tippu Sultan in 1784. Dariya-Daulat meaning “the wealth of the sea” was the summer palace of Tipu Sultan. It is built out of teakwood entirely, in the Indo-Sarcenic style standing on a square platform. There are excellent mural paintings depicting the war scenes, the British and the French officers, the Sultan, the Kings and others. The palace has been converted into a museum where war weapons, dresses, furniture, paintings and coins of Tipu’s period are displayed. One of the main feature of this museum is the famous oil painting “Storming of Srirangapattanam” by Sir Robert Ker Porter made in 1800. This historical painting depicts the final fall of Srirangapatana on 4th May 1799. Timings: 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Entry Charges: Rs. 5/-

Dariya Daulat Bagh

Other attractions of Srirangapatna which we didn’t visit but hope to next time are – Gumbaz, Colonel Bailey’s Dungeon, Fort, Ghosai Ghat, Jama Masjid, Sangam and Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary.

By the time one covers all these places it is usually 1 – 1.30 pm. After that we proceeded to Mysore. Once we reached Mysore, we headed straight for lunch. Mysore struck us as a clean and well managed city with very less traffic as compared to Bangalore. We had lunch at the Spices and Sauces restaurant at Hotel United-21 on B.N. road in Mysore. Service was quite slow and they failed to bring our masala papad till the end of our lunch inspite of several reminders. The food was okay. The restaurant has buffet too. After lunch, we continued on our sightseeing tour.

Next post – Mysore.