Fading Memories of Tipu

This story of the Srirangapatna Summer palace was got during my personal trip to Mysore and the nearby areas with my family. The moment I saw these paintings and roof of the summer palace in total neglect, immediately the idea struck me to write about it and on my way out to my luck the ASI curator of this summer palace bumped into me. I quickly asked him why these historical paintings are being maintained so shoddily, he replied that he had written a numerous times and the ASI Bangalore nor the Delhi office have got back on the restoration work. This ASI person than on helped me to get the whole story and also gave the letters written to the Bangalore circle with a CC to the Delhi office. Since Anshu Vaish (who was with the Madhya Pradesh government as cultural secretary during my tenure in Bhopal) was posted as the director of ASI in Delhi I wrote an email to her and got some kind of response to have the whole picture for the story in place. Though it did take me a month to finish the story, I was happy at the end as the ASI has started their restoration work and the ASI curator of the museum is a very happy person now. This appeared in the Bangalore Mirror's edition on the 15th July 2008.

Priceless paintings at former Srirangapatna ruler’s summer palace suffer from neglect and they need immediate attention

Daria Daulat Bagh, a structure built by the erstwhile ruler of Srirangapatna, Tipu Sultan, transports us back to history. The Bagh, situated on the banks of Cauvery River in Srirangapatna, treasures centuries-old paintings, engravings and arms that depict Tipu’s struggles against the British. The State of these collections are also a grim reminder of their fight against time and neglect.

The shoddy maintenance by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has resulted in the paint peeling off walls, ceilings and canvases. This teak wood structure, built in 1784, used to be Tipu’s summer palace. It stands on a raised platform at a height of 1.5 meters.
The murals on the corridors describe Tipu’s ordeals in the battlefield. Now, you can see some yellow patches that expose the walls behind –a result of scratching by visitors with their nails.

According to records, a palace built by Moghul Governor Dilavar Khan inspired Tipu to build this palace. A remarkable feature of the Bagh is the amount of wood used on the ceilings, walls, pillars, canopies and arches. While the outer walls are devoted to war scenes and portraits, the inner walls are lined with floral and geometric patterns.
Now, they are in an appalling condition as the paint has peeled off the wooden base.
The painting, “The stroming of ‘Srirangapattanam’, done by Sir Robert Ker Porter in 1800, depicts the capture of Srirangapatna, on May 4, 1799. It features several English officers, including General Baird, Sergeant Graham and Colonel Dunlop. But now, it has gaping holes.

The same painting shows Tipu’s soliders offering stiff resistance, with the walls of Tipu’s fort, minarets of the mosque and ‘gopura’ of the Ranganatha Swamy temple in the background. This painting too is in a bad shape and needs some restoration. When we spoke to the ASI officials at the museum, their reply was: “we too are saddened at the museum’s state of affairs; we have written several times to the ASI, Bangalore circle but there is no positive reply from it.”
When we wrote to Mrs Anshu Vaish, Director General of ASI, New Delhi, she asked ius to contact Dr S V P Halakatti, the superintending archaeologist of ASI’s Bangalore circle.
Mrs Vaish also said she has asked Dr Halakatti to reply to our queries. The latter, however, remained incommunicado.

Museum Masterpieces

A portrait of Tipu shows him wearing a turban, a striped shirt, a necklace and a belt adorned with precious stones to which is attached a sword. G F Cherry painted the portrait of Tipu as a prince adorns the wall. It was painted by John Zoffany in 1780.
Besides, there are 18 pencil sketches, including those of Tipu’s seven-sons – Sultan Fateh Haider, Abdul Khaliq, Maizuddin, Mohiuddin, Yasin Sahib, Sultan Sahib and Shukrullah. Also on display are the sketches of Mir Alam, minister of the Nizam, his son Mir Dauran, Krishna Raja Wodeyar III and his maternal uncle, Nandi Raja. These portrait sketches were drawn by Thomas Hickey, an English artist, between 1799 and 1801.
The museum showcases coins of various denominations, including the double paisa, paisa, half paisa, quarter paisa and one-eight paisa, issued by Tipu from different mints at Bangalore, Calicut, Chitradurg, Dindigul, Gooty and Srirangapatana. Medals made of sliver, copper and bronze, issued by the English to commemorate their victory over Tipu are also on show.

Combat Exercise by Indian Paratroopers

The main aim of having a Parachute Unit to any country is for quick deployment of the solders behind enemy lines to attack the enemy from behind & destroy their first line of defense. They are the "CRACK FORCE" & help the main army to get in without much damage. The Indian Paras are the Elite group of soldiers & generally all the Special Forces personals are selected from it. Though it has its own SF Units & slowly they are being converted into SF or better known as "COMMANDOS".
The three parachute commandos (battalion-size units) perform Special Forces duties. Airborne, Air Assault or Parachute troops are usually held centralized. The mounts, in all cases, are provided by the Indian Air Force. The parachute and parachute commando units, which are part of the Indian Army's Special Forces, are ready reaction troops, although their use “is heavily dependent on the Air Force air transport fleet.
By start of the new century, the Parachute Regiment had essentially two components. One part was the traditional parachute force, with the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Parachute.
In 2003 the government announced the creation of four new Special Forces battalions to be trained in cooperation with Israel. The intended role for these units was to stop cross-border infiltration in Kashmir, though they were to be trained for cross-border raids as well. One report indicated in 2004, that the 5th Parachute was converting to the Special Forces role; however, it was actually the 4th that converted. There are no open source indications that the remaining battalions were ever actually formed.
The parachute units of the Indian Army are among the oldest airborne units in the world. The 1st unit was authorized on 15 May 1941, & by October 1941 the 50th (Independent) Parachute Brigade had been formed; comprising 152nd Parachute Battalion (Indian), 151st Parachute Battalion (British) & 153rd Parachute Battalion (Gurkha).
The Pictures you get to see below are the ones taken at the Parachute Regiment Training Center in Bangalore during the visi of the Sultan of Brunei.

Fighters of the Parachute Regiment Training Center enact a war scene as their slither down a mock training iron railings (left) as they enact an arm to arm combat with an mock target (right) to the visiting Sultan of Brunei His Majesty Hazi Hassanal Bolkiah after he had checked out the latest and mordern Weapons of Warfare during his visit in Bangalore on Friday 23rd May 2008.

Commandos of the Parachute Regiment Training Center enact a war scene as one Sits behind an tree trunk to give covering fire (left) to the fellow commando who is running for the final assualt (right) to the visiting Sultan of Brunei His Majesty Hazi Hassanal Bolkiah after he had checked out the latest and mordern Weapons of Warfare during his visit in Bangalore on Friday 23rd May 2008.

The below operation is an very coveted one tacking the unpredictability of the Jammu & Kashmir hills surrounded with thick forest and rocky terrain. The Paratroop Commandos are air lifted by a Helicopter and dropped to a certain point to finish an operation with terrorists holed up in a Kashmir home. The whole operation lasts 6 minutes and the enemy is neutralized with meticulous planning and swift and calculated moves during the operation.























This Scene was appreciated by the visiting Sultan of Brunei and he also praised the team from the fast coordinated moves by helping each other through out the six minute operation.

*** Please scroll down for more on the Sultan of Brunei ***

Brunei Sultan's love for Arms!

Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah the Sultan of Brunei visited the garden city of Bangalore on 23rd of May, 2008. his purpose of visit though kept a secret was out in the open the moment he landed into the city. His aim was to strike a arms deal with the Indian Army and also strike a deal with the erstwhile Mysore Maharaja Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar for setting up an resort at his Bangalore Palace and also purchase a few hundred acres of land from the King.
But since I was able to visit only the Army area I have posted some pictures of the Sultan trying his hand some of the pistols and arms on display which the Indian Defense wanted to sell to him. Here are some of his pictures taken by me during his two hour stay at the Parachute Regiment Training Center in Bangalore.

Sultan of Brunei His Majesty Hazi Hassanal Bolkiah comes out of bunker(left) and hops on to his waiting open air jeep (right) after checking it during his visit to the Parachute Regiment Training Center in Bangalore on Friday 23rd May 2008.

Sultan of Brunei His Majesty Hazi Hassanal Bolkiah interacts with officers of the Parachute Regiment (left) and looks at an Multi Media presentation (right) during his visit to the Parachute Regiment Training Center in Bangalore on Friday 23rd May 2008.

Sultan of Brunei His Majesty Hazi Hassanal Bolkiah checks out the latest and modern Weapons for during his visit to the Parachute Regiment Training Center in Bangalore on Friday 23rd May 2008.

Bull Eye: The Sultan of Brunei His Majesty Hazi Hassanal Bolkiah checks out the latest and modern Weapons of Warfare (left) and hits the bulls eye during his visit while trying the latest light combat guns at the Parachute Regiment Training Center in Bangalore on Friday 23rd May 2008.