Srirangapatna also called as Patna by locals is a temple town of chronological
significance. The temple is located 1km from the Srirangapatna KSRTC Bus
station. Frequent buses (Volvo Buses and local Bus) are available from Mysore
which will drop you in front of the temple. You can also get down from main bus
stand and hire an Auto for 25 rupees. Srirangapatna Railway station is location
just behind temple.
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| Ranganatha Swamy Temple Map |
One can spend 1 day at Srirangapatna as there are many historical places to be
visited. The temple will be crowded in weekends and Holidays and deserted
during Weekdays. As it was one day plan we (office colleagues) planned to start
at early morning 6.15 AM from jayadeva flyover and pickup few of them on the
way, which did not happen because as usual few of them were late!! But still
managed to start at 7.15AM itself. We had breakfast i:e Bidadi special tatte idly. Resuming our
journey and heading to destination which was planned to visit in srirangapatna
was Ranganathaswamy temple.Sited on an
island in the Kaveri river, Srirangapatna was capital of Tipu Sultan.
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| Balamuri Falls |
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| Centre of Balamuri Falls |
The town takes its name from the
Ranganathaswamy temple. Srirangapattana is an important Vaishnavite centres of
pilgrimage. Ranganatha, a facade of Vishnu and is one of the Pancharanga
Kshetrams. The temple is one of a set of three major temples that are built on
three different islands on the Kaveri and are dedicated to lord Ranganatha. Adi
Ranga - at Srirangapattana, Madhya Ranga - at Shivanasamudra, Antya Ranga - at
Srirangam. Hindus come from far and wide to Srirangapatna to immerse the ashes
of their dead relatives.
Srirangapatna was founded by the Ganga Dynasty
in the 9th century. The city shot to fame during the rule of Vijayanagara
Empire. The Wodeyar dynasty rose into prominence with the fall of the
Vijayanagara Empire. It was believed that any person who had control of
Srirangapatna and conducted the 10-day Navratri festival, would rule over
Mysore. Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali defeated the Woodeyar King and made
Srirangapatna their capital for a brief period. In the Battle of Srirangapatna in
1799, Tipu Sultan was killed died inside the fort by the combined armies of
Nizam of Hyderabad and the British.
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| Still at Sangama |
Sangama,
the place where three holy rivers Kaveri, Kabini and Hemavati have fused. One
special attraction of that place is typical coracle boat used in rural areas.
People can go to the main Sangam point of the three rivers using those boats.
Since we were short of time we couldn’t visit Dariya Daulat Palace, Yedamuri Falls,Ranganathittu.
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| Teppa Ride at Balamuri Falls |
Balmuri Falls, Srirangapatna
It is a man-made reservoir is built across the River Cauvery and
is the most suitable place for tourists. The ideal time to visit this waterfall
is during the winter season as the water level is comparatively high then and tourists
can enjoy bathing and playing in the open air. There are few coracle boats also here which
will drop middle of the reservoir and drop back when you want. After spending more than 3 hrs in falls, we
started back and have lunch nearby srirangapatna at 4 PM. The initial plan was
to visit Manchinbelle dam 30km away from Bangalore near big baniyan tree. Since
we spent most of time in falls we couldn’t make it to Manchinbellle dam. So
instantly we planned to go to KRS Dam. We tried flying kites in between the
fields but we couldn’t get proper place to fly.
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| KRS Dam Overflow |
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| KRS Dam |
After
a long day with history and Nature,We headed to KRS or Krishna Raja
Sagara, is the name of both, a lake and the dam that causes it. The dam was
built across river Kaveri in 1924. Apart from being the main source of water
for irrigation in the most fertile Mysore and Mandya, the reservoir is the main
source of drinking water for almost the whole of Bangalore city. The Brindavan
Gardens is a show garden that has a botanical park, with fountains, as well as
boat rides beneath the dam. Diwans of Mysore planned and built the gardens in
connection with the construction of the dam. KRS Dam was the first to install
automated Crest gates during 1920 and Brindavan Garden was the first in India
to display a musical fountain.
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| Musical Fountain at KRS |
The show for musical fountains starts at 7 pm.
every evening and continues for an hour. Depending on the sunset, timings may
vary for the musical show. It was 8 PM we headed back to Bangalore On the way
we had dinner at MC’Donalds. After home
delivery to everybody. It was 2.15AM when last person reached the home.
