Mayura River View Hotel, Srirangapatnam.......the beautiful lung space near Bangalore

   A flock of geese scurried away as I opened the door of the car..I walked into a place under the shade of tall trees.A  river flowing very close grabbed my attention and I did not notice the turkey and the rooster ambling very close to my feet .If by now you have visualised me in a remote village somewhere in Karnataka,you are under the wrong impression.I was at the Mayura River View resort merely a 100 m off the Bangalore Mysore highway.

 

The Mayura River View resort is located in Srirangapatnam,about few kilometers from Mysore.We had visited the cursed town of Talakadu  and the intricately carved Hoysalan templeThe temple at Somnathapura .On our way back we decided to spend the rest of the day and one night here before we returned to Bangalore the next morning.

        Though the temple of Somnathpura was a masterpiece in itself,it could not get the kids interested as always. They were exhausted after the long drive and with the sun blazing over us all the morning.this resort came as a welcome retreat in more ways than one.

We had booked a river facing cottage with an awesome view of the branch of the Cauvery flowing by. Since we had about half of the day to ourselves we did not confine ourselves to the room.The most exciting amusement was obvious,a coracle ride on the river.The boatman who took us for the ride stopped at one of the rocks in the middle of the water.The view from there was something I shall not forget for a long time.

We sat there with our feet dipped in water watching the birds busy fishing.
As a matter of fact we were completely overwhelmed by the silence of the place,more so as it came at the least expected place,only a kilometre away from the busy highway.

The picture below shows the open dining area where we did not miss an opportunity to have lunch and breakfast ,with the beautiful river flowing by. I personally liked the taste of the food,which ranged from typically south Indian to Indo Chinese and service was prompt.My only complain was to the people who had very irresponsibly thrown liquor bottles at places on the  river bank.

The picture below shows the dining area where we had dinner.It is a semi circular place partially hanging over the water.

We could spend hours there simply sitting and lazing on the steps to the water,and of course clicking more than we had clicked since morning at the two historical places.

 

The finest part of this stay was that the kids never complained through the entire stay. They were too busy chasing geese ,watching turkeys and most interestingly ,feeding rabbits in the open. And for once we did not complain about them digging in to mobile phones..At times I find myself pushed to a corner as I wonder whether our kids are to blame or we are falling short of options for them.

The dining space

The open dining area by the riverside

So in a nutshell it was a day well spent amidst raw nature,a sense of fulfillment which no malls, swimming pools,  amusement parks or multiplexes can outdo.We were back on the highway after a quick visit to the nearby Colonel Bailey's Dungeon.Read here

Srirangapatnam was once Tipu Sultan's capital city.  So a lot of monuments pertaining to his life and activities are strewn all over the place.Like  -       Tipu's Summer Palace,
                                                                              Ranganathittu Bird Santuary ,
                                                                             Dariya Daulat Bagh,
                                                                            Scott's Bungalow,
                                                                          Tipu's death place,
                                                                            Ruins of Tipu's Palace ,
                                                                             Sangam and many more.

 Moreover this place being at a short distance (15 kms )from Mysore can be used for a good night stay when visiting Mysore, if one wishes to avoid the crowd at Mysore.There is good parking space for cars and booking can be done online here Hotel Mayura River View.

Colonel Bailey's Dungeon,Srirangapatnam

   A stone's throw away from Srirangapatnam railway station lies Colonel Bailey's Dungeon.This is perhaps the least noticed and least visited place of the many places of interest in Srirangapatnam.
     Srirangapatnam is an island formed by the Cauvery as the river bifurcates forming this island and again meets at Sangam. The entire place of Srirangapatnam is dotted with such monuments which speak about the life and struggles of the Tiger of Mysore and it also urges us to know more about our struggle for freedom.
   The small town of Srirangapatnam was once the capital city of the great Tipu ,and is also the place which witnessed the 4 Mysore wars.  It goes without saying that it was the  hub of many political activities in the 18 th century ,  many scars of which are still visible,at this place...Colonel Bailey's Dungeon is one such place which was used to keep  British prisoners of war captive during the four Mysore wars.

     Hyder Ali and then his son Tipu Sultan both  had tried to bar the British extend their empire to the south.It wasn't an easy task  though  ,as the British had already joined hands with the Nizams and the Maratha.

In the war of   Pollilur   , Colonel Bailey and his troops were defeated by Tipu ,and the British officer was held captive here till he breathed his last in 1782.  Later many more British high ranking officials were held captive here like   Captain Baird and Rulay and Colonel Sampson  and Frazer.

   The dungeon, as you can see in the picture above are built a few metres below the ground level ,this was probably so ,to keep it away from view and to make it easier for the sentries to keep watch over the prisoners.  Every effort was made to make the place completely inaccessible to any outsider ,as the stairs we used to go down to the dungeon also did not exist then ,it was made only for the convenience of the tourists. The  four stone slabs that can be seen at the distance on the wall were the  ones used to enter and leave this place

  Once inside, it looks like this with domed archways and walls on all sides. The clean interiors do not speak much of the morbid state it used to be in the past.This place used to be filled three fourth with water in those days ,with captives chained to the walls. It was only in the recent years that the place was cleaned up and painted before a visit by the President Sri Abdul Kalam Azad

That's my husband giving a demonstration of how the captives were chained to the stone blocks and dunked in water for hours 

The picture above shows the holes on the stone blocks through which the captives were chained to the walls. When observed closely ,the place is full of such small details  which substantiate the purpose of this place, that it is not difficult for one to get illusions of prisoners chained and tortured here during the wars.

  The most interesting thing inside the dungeon is the huge wrought iron canon lying right at the centre of it. There are many theories explaining its presence there ,according to some ,the canon rolled out of its place and fell through the roof while Tipu was waging a war against the British,while other theories explain that the canon was always kept there but during a bombardment a bomb fell straight through the roof and chipped off a portion of it .Very aptly, for both explanations the roof has an open portion just above it.

The mark left on the canon probably by the bomb

It is so said that the bomb was actually targeted at Tipu ,as the British had expected him to be here at that time ,but fortunately he was not  present in the dungeon.

The above picture shows an opening

 in one corner of the dungeon,which was later discovered as the entry to a secret tunnel connecting the dungeon to the palace. Secret tunnels have always fascinated me,and this one could not stop me from thinking that Tipu made surprise visits to this place through this tunnel.

And guess what is this ...probably the place in the wall which was used to fill the dungeon with water from the Cauvery ,at least that is how our guide put it.

The captives here were prisoners  of war and so security was very important,the openings on the walls above the dungeon to keep watch and to fire the canons from.

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 The first picture above shows openings on the walls for firing bullets at any attackers but very interestingly   I got this  second picture when I placed the camera inside the hole.....it had three openings to shoot at different directions...hats off to the  military  ingenuity of those days.

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 The dungeon was very strategically built,  the river Cauvery formed a natural moat behind the it .This river must have been more voluminous before the dams were built. The dungeon  which in itself was a small fortress was located inside the fort of the ruler ,needless to say the importance it had for the Sultan!

                Keeping Indian rulers and Sepoy captive by the British was a routine affair during the British rule,but a place built exclusively to keep  British prisoners of war  captive by  an Indian ruler somewhat induces  a sense of pride in us.

Tipu was well known for his valour and his military ingenuity   , his rockets had not failed to awe the British. The relatively simple  brick and mortar structure which we had just visited, actually stood in silent testimony to the same valour and the mettle that was so quintessential of Tipu Sultan.

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Srirangapatnam is located about 14 kms from Mysore and 125 kms from Bangalore and lies on the Mysore Bangalore highway.It is very well connected by rail and road ,there are also buses plying regularly to Mysore from Bangalore.The dungeon lies very close to the railway station ,one can visit the Ranganatha Swamy temple ,which is only half a km from this place.The place where Tipu's body was found is also very well marked and lies very close to this place.  Srirangapatnam is generally visited from Mysore as a one day  trip, though there are very good boarding options here itself .We stayed at the KSTDC property ,Mayura River View about 2 kms away.