Across the Road from the River – Srirangapatana, Mysore



I had visited the temple a decade back but the doors had been closed to me. Perhaps I had lingered on for minutes longer at Tipu Sultan’s summer palace at Srirangapatna and He did not want to be kept waiting, anyway it was definitely time for the priests’ siesta and the doors were shut. I reached in time this time, 10 years later.


We drove back from Nimishamba temple past small patches of Rose plantations and roadside stalls selling Gulkand, Rose oil and attars. I ignored the verdant appeal of Dariya Daulat Bagh, the lawns and gardens in which is set the Dariya Daulat Palace, Tipu Sultan’s summer retreat that had delayed us the last time. Srirangapatna, Seringapatnam to the British, is a small but historic city almost qualifying for the status of a ‘cute’ city if it hadn’t been so infinitely shrouded in incense and wrapped in war cries from another time – an island situated 14 kilometres from Mysore. The road to the Lord’s abode is narrow but smooth and took me past snapshots of history including, ironically, the very spot where Tipu Sultan met his bloody end not far from the hidden door and pathway to his escape boat moored by the river Cauvery. A fitting reminder of the transience of the body but the timelessness of souls and legacies!

Srirangapatana, established by the Ganga dynasty rulers in the 9th century takes its name from the celebrated Ranganathaswamy temple which dominates the tiny town making it a place of great religious and historic significance. Sri Ranganathaswamy is a form of Lord Vishnu. The temple was the agraharam, a place of learning, granted to Saint Ramanujacharya in the 11th century.

The first thing that transfixed me was the space provided to history and prayer - large and clean. The Sri Ranganthaswamy temple is one of the five important pilgrimage sites along the river Kaveri for devotees of Lord Ranganatha. In the sanctum, the image of Vishnu reclines on the coils of the snake Adisesha, under a canopy formed by the snake's seven hoods, with his consort Lakshmi at his feet. Around the shrine flanking Vishnu are other deities from the Hindu pantheon; Sridevi, Bhudevi (goddess of earth) and Brahma (the creator). There are other smaller shrines within the complex dedicated to Narasimha (an avatar of Vishnu), Lord Krishna, Balaji Srinivasa, Hanuman, Garuda and the Alwar saints.

The largest reclining form of Lord Vishnu in the state of Karnataka gave me an audience on my second visit. As we departed for the Chamundi hills I left with the certainity of one thought – Srirangapatnam would call me to it again.

Comments

  1. amolbulbuleSeptember 16, 2014 at 4:38 AM

    Awsme blog....Never visited Srirangapatana though its very near to B'lore...certainly will make a visit soon..thank you...
    Amol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ashishontheotherside!September 17, 2014 at 4:42 AM

      Thanks Amol...read the one on Nimishamba Temple also...

      Delete

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