Sketches from life

Tuesday, 13 February 2024

Summer Palace of Tipu Sultan, Bangalore

Tipu Sultan ( reign December 1782 to May 1799 ) of Mysore State had a summer residence in Bangalore Fort. As of now however, roads and buildings have come up in Fort land and the Summer Palace stands alone with adjoining Sri Kote Venkataramana Swami Temple.

The Palace has Indo-Islamic style architecture and entire two storey palace is made up of teak wood. Construction of the Palace was started by Hyder Ali within the Bangalore Fort and Tipu Sultan completed it in 1791.

After death of Tipu Sultan in Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, British East India Company used it as administrative secretariat. They moved out in 1868 to Attara Kacheri. The Palace is now under management of Archaeological Survey of India.

On ground floor some rooms have been converted into museum wherein some portraits and paintings are displayed along with clothes of Sultan. Silver vessels gifted to Hyder Ali are also on display.

One interesting anecdote is about a grand throne of Tipu coated with gold sheets and adorned with precious stones. Tipu never used it as he had vowed to defeat British first and then sit on the throne. The British defeated Tipu and dismantled the throne and auctioned it in bits and pieces as whole of it was too expensive to be bought by any individual.

The guide also narrated a story that British soldiers fired from behind the adjoining Swami Temple on Tipu Sultan during the Third War. Bullet hit the Garuda Pillar of the Temple instead of Tipu and Tipu was thus saved. Both Hyder Ali and Tipu had therefore great reverence and regard for the Temple. This story is written on the Notice Board in the Swami Temple also.

Tipu Sultan used to conduct his Darbar in the Summer Palace whenever residing here. Rooms on first floor were Zenana quarters.

The Palace is small and therefore visit can be concluded in an hour or so. But small is beautiful! Entry is by ticket. Guide available on payment. Open daily from 8.30 to 5.30. Bus stop and metro station are on walking distance. Some phots:

1. Facade of the Palace

2. Tipu used the balcony to address meetings

3. Entrance of the palace

4. Ground floor

5. Teak wood pillars and arches

6. Carvings on the pillars

7. Rear balcony with railings of wood

8. Arches and wooden railings show great craftsman ship

9. Looks beautiful in sunshine

10. Another view of arches and pillars of the two floors

11. First floor

12. Notice Board

Friday, 9 February 2024

Pitalkhora Buddhist Caves, Maharashtra

Pitalkhora Buddhist Caves are 3rd century BCE rock-cut caves which are earliest examples of cave architecture in India. These are located on Chandora Hill in Satmala range of Western Ghats in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra.

2. These caves can be reached by train, nearest railway station being Chalisgaon Central Railway Station 30 km away. By road it is 20 km from Kannad town and about 70 km from Aurangabad city. From Ellora caves the distance is about 40 km.

3. The caves are in fact situated in a magnificent deep ravine surrounded by dense lush green tropical forest of Gautala Autramghat Wild Life Sanctuary. During and after monsoon rains it looks beautiful. The Reserve Forest area is shared by Aurangabad and Jalgaon districts as the Sanctuary lies between Satmala and Ajantha hill ranges. Gautala is the name of a village there.

This place is also called Brazen Glen. A small stream of clear water flows in to the ravine adding to the beauty of the place. Of course the water was used by the ancient Buddhist monks residing here. Water was beautifully managed by appropriate outlets draining water from and off the caves.

3. Since 1953 Archaeological Survey of India is looking after these ancient caves. As visitors have to climb down a steep incline to reach the caves, steel staircases and small bridges have been installed for convenience. There is no restaurant or canteen and afternoon sun is hot. Please take care acordingly. The visit here is more of an adventure trip! Reaching caves is not easy and therefore visitors are much less than in Ajanta and Ellora caves. Entry is by tickets. Ample parking space is available. Guide not available. Staff of ASI on duty there help you with whatever information they have.

Pitalkhora is a World Heritage Site.

6. Pitalkhora caves were discovered in 1853 by John Wilson who gave a brief account of two caves. Interesting to note that Pitalkhora has been mentioned by Ptolemy in his book 'Treatise on Geography' as Petrigala (full name of Ptolemy is Klaudios Ptolemaios. He was born in 100 CE and died in 170 CE. He was Egyptian astronomer, mathematician, geographer of Greek descent). Later this name Petrigala was identified with Pitangalya. The name Pitangalya occurs in a Buddhist text 'Mahamayuri'( please see pic 19 below).

7. There are paintings on walls, pillars and ceilings of Chaitya which as of now, are faded. These are of later period 3rd or 4th century CE in Mahayana Buddhist style. There is no statue of Buddha in caves which implies the prevalence of Hinayana Buddhism in the area during the period of construction.

8. Small inscriptions were also found here which have been dated as of 250 BCE to 3rd and 4th century CE. Two inscriptions mention Pathitana and one inscription mentions Dhanyakataka. Pathitana relates to Pratishthana which was capital of Imperial Satvahanas. Dhanyakataka has since been identified with modern-day Dharnikota in Andhra Pradesh.

9. Pitalkhora caves are close to and on way to Pratishthana or modern day Paithan. The road from Ujjain > Maheshwar > Burhanpur > Aurangabad > Paithan was part of Dakshinapatha in ancient times. This was a well established trade route branches of which reached ports on Arabian Sea on the one hand and on the other hand towards Amravati in Andhra ( please refer map in pic 20 ).

Overall it is very good trip for history buffs, students of Buddhism and for all as an adventure outing. Some photos: