On the fourth day of our journey we visited Srirangapatnam Fort and Mysore Palace. We had an early start this day - left the hotel at 7:15am for 3.5hrs journey to our first stop Srirangapatnam. This was our first chance to get in touch with the life outside of a large, urban Indian city. An interesting observation from this trip was the fact that in the city we didn't feel at all as foreigners, it seemed like people are used to see many foreigners in Bangalore and they really didn't pay attention to us, but the story changed as we exited the city and entered rural India.
The crowd of vendors was the first to welcome us everywhere we stopped. Our first stop was the summer palace of Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatnam. The palace looked more like a summer villa made of wood. The most interesting feature of this palace is the series of murals, which depict scenes from Tipu's military career, in which he crushed the British forces under Colonel Bailey. The kings who owed allegiance to Tipu are also featured in these paintings.This lavishly ornamented building now houses a museum of Tipu memorabilia. 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. Under Tipu Sultan's ruling Srirangapatnam become capital of the powerful tate of Carnatic.
The second attraction we visited was the famous Srirangapatnam Fort defended by a double wall. The river Kaveri borders with one side of the fort forming a natural moat, which is fed by water from the river. In ancient times the moat was a filled with snakes and crocodiles which prevented enemies from entering the fort. The original bridge, which was the only link with the fort, is still in use. Near the bridge, one can still see the breech on the fort wall made by the British forces. The fort has four gates. Along the battlements, there are two dungeons in which prisoners of war were kept and which we had the chance to visit and explore.
The crowd of vendors was the first to welcome us everywhere we stopped. Our first stop was the summer palace of Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatnam. The palace looked more like a summer villa made of wood. The most interesting feature of this palace is the series of murals, which depict scenes from Tipu's military career, in which he crushed the British forces under Colonel Bailey. The kings who owed allegiance to Tipu are also featured in these paintings.This lavishly ornamented building now houses a museum of Tipu memorabilia. 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. Under Tipu Sultan's ruling Srirangapatnam become capital of the powerful tate of Carnatic.
The second attraction we visited was the famous Srirangapatnam Fort defended by a double wall. The river Kaveri borders with one side of the fort forming a natural moat, which is fed by water from the river. In ancient times the moat was a filled with snakes and crocodiles which prevented enemies from entering the fort. The original bridge, which was the only link with the fort, is still in use. Near the bridge, one can still see the breech on the fort wall made by the British forces. The fort has four gates. Along the battlements, there are two dungeons in which prisoners of war were kept and which we had the chance to visit and explore.
Our next stop was the famous Mysore Palace in city of Mysore, southern India. It was the official residence of the former royal family of Mysore, and also housed the durbar (royal offices). As we entered in the garden in front of the palace we saw those beautiful temples and the huge palace which was the first palace we visited that looked like a palace in terms of my expectations. This palace was first built in the 14th century, but this palace was partially damaged by a lightning strike in 1638. It was repaired and expanded, but fell into neglect by the late 18th century. It was demolished in 1793, and a new palace was built in its place in 1803. This palace was destroyed in a fire in 1897 during the wedding of Princess Jayalakshmanni. Based on the previous experience, the Queen-Regent of Mysore at the time, commissioned a British architect, Henry Irwin, to build yet another palace in its place made of fine gray granite with deep pink marble domes stones. The architect was requested to combine different styles of architecture in the construction of the palace. The construction was completed in 1912 and the only sign of the previous palace are two doors made of silver which are mounted to the wall as part of the big art collection in the palace. This palace is a must see place! With 200kg gold royal throne of the Wodeyars with beautiful artwork, a ceremonial wooden elephant howdah (carriage kept on top of the elephants to carry royalty) decorated with 84 kilogram of 24 carat gold and other souvenirs, the gorgeous marriage pavilion with centre octagonal gabled ceiling, covered by multi coloured stained glass with peacock motifs arranged in geometrical patterns and beautiful chandeliers from Belgium(!!!) and so much more.After a very fulfilling day we got back to the hotel in the late evening. It was a truly memorable experience.
Ekaterina Borisova
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