Srirangapattana (also spelled
Srirangapatna;
anglicizedAnglicisation or Anglicization is a process of conversion of verbal or written elements of any other language into a more comprehensible English form for an English speaker....
to
Seringapatam during the
British RajThe British Raj was the British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule...
) is a town in the
Mandya districtMandya District is an administrative district located in Karnataka, India. Mandya District is bounded on the south by Mysore District, on the west by Hassan District, on the north by Tumkur District and on the east by Bangalore District....
of the
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n
stateIndia is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.- States and territories :...
of
KarnatakaKarnataka is a state in the southern part of India. It was created on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act...
. It is located near the city of
MysoreMysore is the second-largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division and lies about southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha...
and is of great religious, cultural and historic importance.
Location
Although situated a mere 19 km from
MysoreMysore is the second-largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division and lies about southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha...
city, Srirangapattana lies in the neighbouring district of
MandyaMandya District is an administrative district located in Karnataka, India. Mandya District is bounded on the south by Mysore District, on the west by Hassan District, on the north by Tumkur District and on the east by Bangalore District....
. The entire town is enclosed by the river Kaveri to form an
islandAn island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets. A key or cay is another name for a small island or islet. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot, .There are two main types of islands:...
, northern half of which is shown in the image to the right. 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 accessible by train from
BangaloreBangalore , also known as Bengaḷūru , is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and fifth-most populous urban agglomeration.Though historical references to the city predate 900...
and
MysoreMysore is the second-largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division and lies about southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha...
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 minimize any impact on the monuments here.
Religious significance
The town takes its name from the celebrated
Ranganathaswamy templeThe Sri Ranganthaswamy temple in Srirangapatna, in the Indian state of Karnataka, is a temple dedicated to the Hindu God Ranganatha, a manifestation of Vishnu and is one of the Pancharanga Kshetrams. The town of Srirangapatna, which derives its name from the temple, is located on an island in the...
which dominates the town, making Srirangapattana one of the most important
VaishnaviteVaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu or his associated avatars, principally as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God. This worship in different perspectives or historical traditions addresses God under the names of Narayana,...
centers of pilgrimage in
south IndiaSouth India, also known as the Dravida in the Indian anthem, is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of area...
. The temple was built by the
Ganga dynastyGanga Dynasty is a name used for two unrelated dynasties who ruled parts of India:* The Western Ganga Dynasty, a kingdom in southern India, based in southern Karnataka, from the 3rd to the 10th centuries...
rulers of the area in the 9th century; the structure was strengthened and improved upon architecturally some three centuries later. Thus, the temple is a medley of the
HoysalaHoysala architecture is the building style developed under the rule of the Hoysala Empire between the 11th and 14th centuries, in the region known today as Karnataka, a state of India. Hoysala influence was at its peak in the 13th century, when it dominated the Southern Deccan Plateau region...
and Vijayanagar styles of
temple architectureA small Hindu temple consists of an inner sanctum, the garbha griha or womb-chamber, in which the image is housed, often circumambulation, a congregation hall, and possibly an antechamber and porch. The sanctum is crowned by a tower-like shikara...
.
Tradition holds that all the islands formed in the
Kaveri RiverThe Kaveri River , also spelled Cauvery in English, is one of the major rivers of India, which is considered sacred by Hindus...
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 Shivanasamudra
Shivanasamudra Shivanasamudra Shivanasamudra ((Kannada: ಶಿವನಸಮುದ್ರ) is a small town in the Mandya District of the state of Karnataka, India. It is situated on the banks of the river Kaveri and is the location of the first Hydro-electric Power station in Asia, which was set up in the year...
- Antya Ranga - at Srirangam
Srirangam , also known as Thiruvarangam, is an island and a zone in the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India. Srirangam is bounded by the Kaveri River on one side, and the Kaveri distributary Kollidam on the other side...
The presence of the
Kaveri RiverThe Kaveri River , also spelled Cauvery in English, is one of the major rivers of India, which is considered sacred by Hindus...
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.
Demographics
India
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
, Srirangapatna had a population of 23,448. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Srirangapatna has an average literacy rate of 68%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 74%, and female literacy is 63%. In Srirangapatna , 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Geography
Srirangapatna is located at . It has an average elevation of 679
metreThe metre or meter is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units . Historically, the metre was defined by the French Academy of Sciences as the length between two marks on a platinum-iridium bar, which was designed to represent one ten-millionth of the distance from the Equator...
s (2227 feet).
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 viceroyalty, from where several nearby vassal states of the empire, such as
MysoreThe Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
and
TalakadTalakad is a town on the left bank of the Kaveri river at a spot where the river makes a sharp bend. It is 45 km from Mysore and 185 km from Bangalore in Karnataka, India. A historic site, Talakad once had over 30 temples that today are buried in sand. Now it is a scenic and spiritual...
, 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 , 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 Chamundeshwari, patron goddess of Mysore
Mysore is the second-largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division and lies about southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha...
;
- Control of the fort of Srirangapattana, the fortification nearest to the capital city of Mysore
Mysore is the second-largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division and lies about southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha...
.
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
MysoreMysore is the second-largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division and lies about southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha...
, it was the last bastion and defence of the kingdom in case of invasion.
Hyder and Tipu
Srirangapattana became the
de facto capital of Mysore under
Hyder AliHyder Ali was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. He is said to have induced his brother to employ a Parsi to purchase artillery and small arms from the government of Bombay Presidency, and to enrol some thirty sailors of different European nations as gunners, and is...
and
Tipu SultanSultan Fateh Ali Tipu November 1750, Devanahalli – 4 May 1799, Srirangapattana), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Islamic Kingdom of Mysore from 1782 until his own demise in 1799. He was the first son of Hyder Ali by his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-nissa...
. When Tipu finally dispensed with the charade of deference to the legitimate
WodeyarThe Wodeyar dynasty was an Indian royal dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Mysore from 1399 to 1947, until the independence of India from British rule and the subsequent unification of British dominions and princely states into the Republic of India.The spelling Wodeyar/Wodiyar is found in most...
MaharajaThe word Mahārāja is Sanskrit for "great king" or "high king" . Due to Sanskrit's major influence on the vocabulary of most languages in India and Asia, the term 'maharaja' is common to many modern languages, such as Oriya, Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi, Gujrati, etc...
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 IndiaSouth India, also known as the Dravida in the Indian anthem, is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of area...
. 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 a combined force of 50,000 men provided equally by the Nizam of Hyderabad and the
BritishEast India Company was a historical English company, founded in 1600, and chartered with the monopoly of trading with Southeast Asia, East Asia, and India...
under the overall command of General Harris. This battle was the last engagement of the
Fourth Anglo-Mysore WarThe Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was a war in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company under the Earl of Mornington....
. The
Battle of SeringapatamThe Battle of Seringapatam was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War between the East India Company of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Mysore...
, 1799, was truly momentous in its historic effects.
In any event, Tipu Sultan was killed within the fort of Srirangapattana, betrayed infamously by one of his own confidants; 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. The joint forces of the victorious army proceeded to plunder Srirangapattana and ransack Tipu's palace. Apart from the usual gold and cash, innumerable valuables and
objets d'art, not excepting even the personal effects of Tipu Sultan, his rich clothes and shoes, sword and firearms, were shipped to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
While most of this is now to be found in the British
Royal CollectionThe Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family. It is property of the monarch as sovereign, but is held in trust for her successors and the nation. It contains over 7,000 paintings, 40,000 watercolours and drawings, and about 150,000 old master prints, as well as...
and in the
Victoria and Albert MuseumThe Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. Named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, it was founded in 1852, and has since grown to now cover some and 145 galleries...
, 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 MallyaDr. Vijay Mallya is an Indian drinks and aviation billionaire and former Rajya Sabha MP. The son of industrialist Vittal Mallya, he is the Chairman of the United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines, which draws its name from United Breweries Group's flagship beer brand, Kingfisher.Mallya has...
, a liquor baron from
KarnatakaKarnataka is a state in the southern part of India. It was created on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act...
, who purchased the same at a
Sotheby'sSotheby's is the world's third oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674 and the second oldest is Uppsala Auktionskammare founded in 1731, both Swedish...
auction.
Places of interest
The town is famous for a very ancient temple dedicated to
Sri RanganathaRanganātha , also known as Sri Ranganatha, Ranganathar, or Ranga, is a Hindu deity, more well-known in South India. The deity is a resting form of Lord Vishnu, one of the foremost of Hindu Gods. His consort is Goddess Lakshmi, also known as Ranganayaki, Thayar...
swamy, a form of Lord
VishnuVishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God...
. Other attractions include the
Jumma Masjid (a
MosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, —...
) and the Daria Daulat Gardens. Near Srirangapattana is the Rangantittu Bird Sanctuary, which is the breeding site for several
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
species, including the
Painted StorkThe Painted Stork, Mycteria leucocephala, is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae.It is a tropical species which breeds in Asia from India and Sri Lanka to southeast Asia. It is a resident breeder in lowland wetlands with trees. The large stick nest is built in a forest tree, and 2-5...
,
Open-billed StorkThe Asian Openbill or Asian Openbill Stork, Anastomus oscitans, is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Southeast Asia....
,
Black-headed IbisThe Black-headed Ibis is a species of wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae which breeds in South Asia and Southeast Asia from Pakistan to India, Sri Lanka east up to Japan...
,
River TernThe Indian River Tern or just River Tern is a bird in the tern family . It is a resident breeder along inland rivers from Iran east through Pakistan into India and Myanmar to Thailand, where it is uncommon. It does not occur in Sri Lanka...
, Great Stone Plover and Indian Shag. The
KarighattaKarighatta is a hill situated a few kilometres outside the 'island' town of Srirangapatna. It is situated off the Bangalore-Mysore road just before Srirangapatna. The name translates to "Black Hill" in Kannada. The hill has a Hindu temple devoted to a form of Hindu god Vishnu, called...
(Black Hill) and its temple of Lord
SrinivasaSri Venkateshwara , also known as Venkatachalapathy, Srinivasa and Balaji, is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu in India. Venkateshwara means the Lord who destroys the sins of the people...
is situated a few kilometres from the town. The deity is that of
Kari-giri-vasa (one who resides on the black hill). The famous
NimishambhaNimishambha is the name of a temple on the banks of the Cauvery river, located about 2 km from Srirangapattana on the road leading to Sangam in the south Indian state of Karnataka.-History:...
templeA temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
is located in the near by
districtDistricts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
of
GanjamGanjam is a town and a notified area committee in Ganjam District in the state of Odisha , India.-Geography:Ganjam is located at . It has an average elevation of 3 metres .-Demographics:...
.The summer palace of Tipu Sultan is also a very interesting place.
Located 27 km upstream from the town is the spectacular Shivanasamudra Falls, the second biggest waterfall in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
and the sixteenth largest in the world.
Ganesha Temple
God Ganesha Temple In Front of Ranganatha Swamy Temple,
Gangadhareswara Swamy Temple is also see Good one Place.
Important Temples In Srirangapatna.Lakshminarasimha Swamy Temple,JyothiMahaswara Temple,
Bidhcotta Ganesha Temple,Panduranga Swamy Temple,Sathyanarayana Swamy Temple,
Anjunaya Swamy Temple in main Road,Ayyapa Temple & Subramanya Temple
In front of Gangadhareswara Swamy Temple,Raganatha Nagara Ganesha
Temple......
External links