A day at Tipu Sultan Fort, Mysore

We were ‘lured’ by our tuk-tuk driver to visit Tipu Sultan fortress lcoated slightly outskirt of Mysore city, and from there we are able to view Mysore land and beyond. That’s a good bait I said to myself, for a history lover and curious-cat like me, I will, obviously jump to it. And the tuk-tuk driver knew that we will say yes before we could even blink, in fact faster than the speed of light, I mean, even superman will be impress. Ahaks.

The journey took around half an hour or so, as I said before, Mysore is clean which makes the journey outskirt super pleasant. We then reach the small entrance where our journey and adventure begin *wink*. Before I start, let me share about Mysore briefly.

Srirangapatna is like a island fortress surrounded by Cauvery River consist of 9 attractions.

The tuk-tuk driver took us up a small hill so that we can view the surrounding and that is when we realised the scenery was awesome (and windy too), feasting out eyes as far as the Masjid-E-Ala, Bailee’s Tomb, Scott’s Bungalow and everything else. We realized that there is a fairly small village located inside Srirangapatna which made us feel as if we were brought back into the time.

The Kingdom of Mysore is situated in southern India was founded in 1399 and  was ruled by the Wodeyar family, it initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire. The kingdom reached the height of its military power in the 18th century under the de facto ruler Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. Famously known as the Muslim ruler of the South Indian state - Tiger of Mysore; Tipu Sultan is a fearsome war leader, having said that he is also a Madrasa scholar, soldier and poet.

Jamia Masjid or Masjid-e-Ala

Jamia Masjid is situated near the Bangalore Gate. It was built in 1784 by Tipu Sultan after he ascended the throne of Mysore. Ninety-nine names of Allah was inscripted inside the mosque. Intricate Persian calligraphy decorated the mosque walls.

Jamia Masjid also houses a madrasa or a religious institution within the premises of the mosque.

Kids from all over southern India were sent here to learn religious study, I even walked around their kitchen, common room and the picture above is where they learn the Quran. Donations are welcome to help the mosque and kids.

Tipu Sultan’s Death Place

This is where Tipu Sultan’s body was found enroute to Water Gate from Masjid-e-Ala. For more story click HERE.

Tipu Sultan's Palace

I was very disappointed as we are not allowed to go in, it is gated and guarded. This is the palace foundations remains after siege in 1799.


Colonel Bailey's Dungeon

The dungeon is named after Colonel Bailey who died here during imprisonment in 1780 AD by Tipu Sultan. When I heard that there would be a dungeon, I was all excited thinking that I will need to crawl inside a smelly tunnel underground, I guess I was wrong as dungeon is properly cleared and cleaned up for tourist view.

During the siege of Srirangapatna in 1799, one of the cannons rolled back, pierced the ceiling and fellinto the dungeon. The feeling was rather eerie when I was there but clean though, the cannon picture can be viewed in my Instagram, *smile*.

Daria Daulat Bagh

Daria Daulat Bagh also known as Garden of the Wealth was built by Tipu Sultan and it is made of teakwood. This is one of the most beautiful building I have ever seen here and we were not allowed to take any picture inside it. I was so devastated about it, grumbled all the way.

The paintings, carving, architecture is very intricate and colourful, especially the history. Do be careful of the crowd as it allows everyone to walk in one direction and it is strictly guarded by


Gumbaz (Mini Taj Mahal)

Like Taj Mahal, this mini Taj Mahal is also a mausoleum of Tipu Sultan, his father Hyder Ali and mother Fathima Begum. Built magnificently by Tipu Sultan himself, and the one thing that I noticed is that the corridor supported by pillars of black hornblende, very beautiful and really impressive.

It is a Persian style mausoleum designed with magnificent garden and the Gumbaz stands on an elevated platform at the center of the garden.

The whole area takes half day to two-third of the day so you need to plan well, we had a late lunch on the way back to our hotel as we have to take a late bus to the next city in the evening. There were a few other places that we missed out of which I wish we had more time. Overall I enjoyed the history and the sites and I do encourage everyone to cover this area especially you history lovers.