Tipu's Bangalore Summer Palace

For long I had wanted to visit the Tipu Sultan’s Bangalore summer palace just for sheer shooting them onto my camera. After a long wait I got the opportunity to go there as some of the treasures belong to the Sultan which was maintained by the Daria Daulat Bagh in Srirangapatna was being put on display for a week at the Bangalore summer palace. Since I could not shoot the pictures of the coins and other materials which were on display at Srirangapatna due to bad light, I had this double whammy luck riding on me to shoot those images which I could not at Srirangapatna and also get the images of the summer palace itself. I went there and ensure that had any fotog’s tummy fill of pictures out which some I have put on display below.

The entrance of the Tipu Sultan's Bangalore Summer Palace.

Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace in Bangalore is one of the few and best historical places in the garden city of Bangalore today. So, if you are planning for sightseeing in Bangalore, this palace is something that you can hardly afford to miss. The palace, now maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, is situated amidst a picturesque garden that enhances the beauty of the old palace. The specialty of the garden lies in the fact that it was originally planted by none other than Tipu Sultan, himself.

The palace is very cool sue to the use of teak wood for roofing as well as the flooring.

Built between the years 1781 and 1791, Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace in Bangalore is similar to Daria Daulat, the other palace of Tipu that is situated in Srirangapatna. As the palace was special to the mighty son of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, he called it 'Rash-e-Jannat' which literally means the abode of happiness and the envy of heaven'. The name inscribed by him on the wooden banisters of the palace can be seen by the visitors even today.
Though a large part of the palace is preserved well, the eastern wing of Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace that housed the 'Zenana' or 'Harem' has been destroyed over the time. What exists today are the wonderfully cuspid rosewood arches that rise above the fluted stone pillars and the beautiful frescoes, painted elaborately on the ceilings and walls of the palace.
Although the palace was previously painted in the elaborate style of the Daria Daulat palace, now the arches and ceilings, made of expensive rosewood have been painted with dark-brown enamel paint. This gives the interior of the palace a rather sober look than warm. However, the delicate and serene white flowers painted on a warm brick-red background cover the walls like a bright carpet. Also the raised frieze of gold flowers and leaves on the plain white base of the borders are a feast to the eyes.

Some of the very valuable heritage used by Tipu Sultan on the special display at the Bangalore Summer Palace. These items are usually on display at the Daria Daulat Bagh at Srirangapatna near Mysore.

The Sword along with papers showing the history and time of Tipu Sultan on the special display at the Bangalore Summer Palace.

The museum hall which houses some of the heritage at the summer palace in Bangalore.

The hand written book of Tipu Sultan (left) and the jar he used to drink tea from (right).

The robe worn by Tipu Sultan when he died fighting the British army (left) and the bowl used by the Sultan himself (right) with typical markings of astrological and numerical predications.


The lock to the pistol used by Tipu (left top) the pistol itself (top right) and some of the various paisa (coins) releaseed by Tipu Sultan during his tenure as the ruler of Mysore Kingdom (left).

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.