Srirangapatna
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Srirangapattana (also spelt Srirangapatna; anglecized to Seringapatam during the British Raj) is a town of great religious, cultural and historic importance located near the city of Mysore in the south Indian state of Karnataka.
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Location
Although situated a mere 13 km from Mysore city, Srirangapattana lies in the neighbouring district of Mandya. The entire town is enclosed by the river Kaveri to form an island. While the main river flows on the eastern side of the island, the Paschima Vaahini segment of the same river flows to its west. The town is easily accessed by train from Bangalore and Mysore and is also well-connected by road, lying as it does just off the Bangalore-Mysore highway. The highway passes through this town and special care was taken to minimise any impact on the monuments here.
Religious Significance
Image:RanganathaTemple.jpg The town takes its name from the celebrated temple of Sri Ranganathaswamy which dominates the town, making Srirangapattana one of the most important Vaishnavite centers of pilgrimage in south India. The temple was built by the Ganga (or "Kongu") rulers of the area in the 9th century; the strutcure was strengthened and improved upon architecturally some three centuries later. Thus, the temple is a medley of the Hoysala and Vijayanagar styles of temple architecture.
Tradition holds that all the islands formed in the Kaveri river are consecrated to Sri Ranganathaswamy, and large temples have been built in very ancient times dedicated to that deity on the three largest islands. These three towns, which constitute the main pilgrimage centers dedicated to Ranganathaswamy, are:
- Adi Ranga - at Srirangapattana
- Madhya Ranga - at Shivanasamudram
- Antya Ranga - at Srirangam
The presence of the river Kaveri is in itself considered auspicious and sanctifying. The Paschima Vaahini section of the Kaveri at Srirangapattana is considered especially sacred; the pious come from far and wide to immerse the ashes of the departed and perform obsequies to their ancestors in these waters.
History
Srirangapattana has since time immemorial been an urban center and place of pilgrimage. During the Vijayanagar empire, it became the seat of a major viceroyaly, from where several nearby vassal states of the empire, such as Mysore and Talakad, were overseen. When, perceiving the decline of the Vijayanagar empire, the rulers of Mysore ventured to assert independence, Srirangapattana was their first target. Raja Wodeyar vanquished Rangaraya Template:Ref, the then viceroy of Srirangapattana, in 1610 and celebrated the Navaratri festival in the town that year. It came to be accepted in time that two things demonstrated control and signified sovereignty over the Kingdom of Mysore by any claimant to the throne:
- Successful holding of the 10-day-long Navaratri festival, dedicated to Durga, patron goddess of Mysore;
- Control of the fort of Srirangapattana, the fortification nearest to the capital city of Mysore.
Srirangapattana remained part of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1610 to after India's independence in 1947; as the fortress closest to the capital city of Mysore, it was the last bastion and defence of the kingdom in case of invasion.
Hyder and Tipu
Srirangapattana became de facto the capital of Mysore under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. When Tipu finally dispensed with the charade of deference to the legitimate Wodeyar Maharaja who was actually his captive, and proclaimed the "Khudadad State" under his own kingship, Srirangapattana became de jure the capital of that short-lived political entity. In that heady period, the state ruled by Tipu extended its frontiers in every direction, encompassing a major portion of South India. Srirangapattana flourished as the cosmopolitan capital of this powerful state. Various Indo-islamic monuments that dot the town, such as Tipu Sultan's palaces, the Darya Daulat and the Jumma Maseedi (Friday congregational mosque), date from this period.
Battle of Seringapatam, 1799: Srirangapattana was the scene of the last and decisive battle fought between Tipu Sultan and the British forces led by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who later also defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. This battle was the last engagement of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. The Battle of Seringapatam, 1799, was truly momentous in its historic effects: had Tipu won that battle, the British may never have had anything more than a peripheral role in the subsequent history of south India. Whether the state founded by Tipu would have retained its independence and grown into an empire, or whether it would have fallen under French hegemony, is a matter of speculation; that the history of south India would have been radically different from what ensued is a certainty.
In any event, Tipu Sultan was martyred within the fort of Srirangapattana, betrayed infamously by one of his own confidents; the spot where he ultimately fell is marked by a memorial. For the last time in history, Srirangapattana had been the scene of political change in the Kingdom of Mysore. Having secured by perfidy and dastardliness the victory that they could not hope to achieve with honour, the British proceeded to plunder Srirangapattana and ransack Tipu's palace. Apart from the usual gold and cash, innumerable valuables and objects d'art, not excepting even the personal effects of Tipu Sultan, his rich clothes and shoes, sword and firearms, were shipped to England. While most of this loot is now to be found in the British Royal Collection and in the Victoria and Albert Museum, some articles have occasionally become available at auctions and have been retrieved for their native land. The sword of Tipu Sultan has been acquired by Vijay Mallya, an industrialist from Karnataka, who purchased the same at a Sotheby's auction.
Places of interest
The town is famous for a very ancient temple dedicated to Sri Ranganathaswamy, a form of Lord Vishnu. Other attractions include the Jumma Masjid (a Mosque) and the Daria Daulat Gardens. Near Srirangapattana is the Rangantittu Bird Sanctuary, which is the breeding site for several bird species, including the Painted Stork, Open-billed Stork, Black-headed Ibis, River Tern, Great Stone Plover and Indian Shag. The Karighatta(Black Hill) 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).
Footnotes
- Template:NoteThe fall of Srirangapattana to the Wodeyar dynasty in 1614 is much celebrated in local ballad and legend, one of which concerns a curse put upon the Wodeyars by Alamelamma, the lamenting wife of the defeated Vijayanagar viceroy. In fulfillment of that curse, no ruling Maharaja of Mysore has ever had children; the succession has inevitably devolved upon brothers, nephews or adopted heirs, or on children born to the Maharaja before his accession, but never has a child been born to a ruling Maharaja.