SRIRANGAPATNA

 SRIRANGAPATNA

Curiously, the name has no association with either Srirangam of Tamilnadu or Patna of Bihar; in its own right –it is Srirangapatna. Much like the island town Srirangam, SRIRANGAPATNA is also an island –garlanded by the same river Kaveri.

 The river has always been a boon to farming in both Karnataka and Tamilnadu. The same is also, the reason for the bane of strained relations between the two states. There are quite a few things to speak about the day’s topic. Yes, till date the place is a calm island town some 18 km north of Mysore [sorry-Mysuru now]. Every time one attempts to write about places, [s]he encounters the dilemma of ‘which name to write’.  Yes, dilemmas are generally zones of delight, as the writer can effortlessly fill pages by sheer reference to those names.

The town –now Srirangapatna has passed through vagaries of spelling the name by every other non-native as under.

The British called it SERINGAPATAM, The Tamils –Srirangapatnam, the Telugus –Srirangapatnamu, the natives –Srirangpatna if one goes by the way they say. Another   point of dilemma in naming pertains to the river that was  traditionally spelt Cauvery, and is so across Karnataka , though some want it ‘Kaveri’, the Tamils prefer Kaviri . I do not know if there are other options. Leaving aside all these trivia, one can really admire the place for several other things as general silence, despite the buzz of tourism in this town that has just about 5 streets in place of the earlier three. This tiny town, though calm by every yardstick, has courts-[places of acrimony] for taluk level civil litigations; therefore has a cognizable population of lawyers and the common sign board in their houses reads ‘Pleader’ and their qualification LL.B after some bachelor’s degree.                                                     Most others are employees in the adjacent towns –Mandya, Pandavapura or in the nearest city – Mysuru. Tourism to the town is for pilgrimage [Ranganatha swami worship+ a holy dip in river Kaveri], or sightseeing [Tippu’s summer palace –Dharia Dowlat] or Visit to the tomb of   Tippus parents – the Hyder alis in Gol gumbaz some 3 kms east of Srirangapatna.   Another place of interest in the vicinity is GANJAM –popular for its tasty large  Guava fruits –the Ganjaaam seebae hannu in Knnada language.   

The place is an excellent model for communal amity and the minority community gets on well with the majority and vice –versa.

The temple is of a moderate size . Lord Ranganatha is clearly visible in a well-lit sanctum sanctorum , a sharp contrast to what one witnesses in Srirangam,TN. Unlike the river in Srirangam, the same river in Srirangapatna has a rocky channel and at certain points these rock beds offer hideouts for freshwater crocodiles; there are warning signs to that effect. Some places are ‘safe’ for bathing ,being constantly used by natives and visitors for bathing.

Though, a small town there are eating houses on the main road. However, being influenced by trends some new eateries have sprung up on the outskirts of the town on the Bangalore-Mysore road, with tempting names like ‘ADIGE MANE’ meaning cooking house or kitchen in Kannada language. They put up catchy signs like mud pots, thatched sheds or tiled roof halls –a convincing presentation of being totally –traditional, a new found fashion among consumers for these ‘artificial’ natural-looking cultural links of the past.  Also, they serve food items more common in domestic palette than the items served in business-oriented restaurants.

In a street on the northern face of the town there was a plaque etched in granite that read ‘Tippu’s body was found here ‘ marking the sad end of a veteran. Now a decent layout has been created to plant the plaque in a green carpet fenced to protect the area. A small town as Srirangapatna has so much in her rich history. In the last few decades, the place has developed a college for students around the area –as a good sign of   development.

 

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