Tipu's Summer Palace : Palace carved out of Wood.

I have been living in Bangalore for the past nine plus years and i have still not completed visiting the length and breadth of Bangalore. Tipu's Summer palace is one of the iconic places in Bangalore which tourists from India and International places come and visit.This place was always there in my list but time eluded me from going to this place.It was the month of February 2016, when the climate of Bangalore slowly starts changing to hot and one of the Saturdays when i have a weekend holiday, that i thought of why not visit this place and know what the place is all about.

I started from my home at around 10.00am and reached the palace at around 11.00 am.The palace is located at the Albert Victor Road which runs towards Mysore.Just in front of the Tipu Palace is the famous Vani Vilas Hospital. Next to this palace stands the Kote Venkataraman Temple.This palace is around half a kilometer from the famous K.R.Market which still is one of the biggest flower markets in Asia. The sun was hot and the place was also hot too.As soon as i was at the site,i collected my ticket from the gate and started approaching the palace.I was witness to a very ordinary box like structure purely in a rectangle shape which is called the Tipu's summer Palace.As we move closer to the structure, the Palace starts emerging with its tits and bits.

Tipu's Summer Palace,Bangalore.

As history tells, the construction of the palace was initiated in 1781 AD by the late Nawab Hyder Ali who was the Commander in chief of the Wadiyar King Krishnaraja Wadiyar II.The completion of the same was done by his son Tipu Sultan who completed the structure and the ornamentation by the year 1791 AD.As we near the structure of the palace we can see fine polished teak wood which is painted in the brown on the main structures and cream colored plating on the floral wooden bases and arches of the wooden structure.The palace is a fine example of the Indo-Islamic architecture with the scaling up of the row structure of the arches and the cream paints with a overall brown background. 

Scaling up of the Arches

The whole structure is distributed in two stories of the palace resting on a low stone platform with chambers at the front and the back of the palace.The upper storeys can be accessed by four staircases on the corner edges of the palace.The central part in the upper storey is a large hall which is having a room at each of the four corners which is called as 'Zenana' quarters.

The upper storeys inside the Palace.

The basement area of the palace is an enclosed space which is now converted into a museum.This museum comprises of the famous toy of Tipu Sultan,a replica of a tiger attacking an Englishmen.This toy symbolizes the spirit of the erstwhile rulers, of throwing out the British Raj from India during those times.As photography is prohibited inside the museum, i was not able to take the picture of this toy.Then i got to the next room and what i saw was wall paintings.These were very intricately made and precise paintings which gives us a testament of the Indo-Islamic architecture of those times.

Wall Paintings inside the Palace.

Next to this iconic structure is the famous Kote Venkataraman Temple which was built way back in 1689 by Maharaja Chikka Devaraja Wadiyar.The temple structure is a fine example of the Dravidian architecture of sculpture art.

Kote Venkataraman Temple,Bangalore

I wondered how during the rule of Tipu Sultan this temple survived next to the summer palace.But soon i got to know the story behind this and the story was quite interesting.This story is scripted in text inside the temple premises and the same was narrated by the priest of the temple.Opposite to the temple there was a large parade ground conducted by the then British soldiers. During the third Mysore war in 1791,under the instruction of Lord Cornvallis, who was the then Governor General of India,a bullet was aimed at Tipu Sultan by the British Army from the parade ground,which hit the Garuda Gamba (Pillar) and saved the life of Tipu Sultan.Because of this incidence Tipu Sultan has great reverence and regard for this temple.This temple also became a holy place for fostering the Hindu-Muslim unity during that period.The main deity of the temple is Shri Prasanna Venkataramana Swamy. To the south west is Shri Anjaneya Swamy and to its north west Shri Mahalakshmi Sannidhis. The coexistence of both these structures,namely the Palace and the Temple represent the ethos of the Indian culture at those and the present times.Since i never take photos of the deity in a temple,where the Puja's are done,i avoided taking any photos inside the temple.I had a small interaction with the pujari to know the relevance and the history behind the making of the temple and the significance of this place with respect to the Palace.All in all the visit was fruitful,since i got to know a fair amount of history of the place where i live today.

I was at the fag end of my visit to this beautiful Palace and i came back again to the palace after my visit to the temple.I just wandered around the lawns to take a picture of both the Palace and the temple and i was able to get that from the right hand side corner of the palace compound.

The Palace and the temple standing together

In these times two structures standing together with two different identities but respecting each others ethos and people from both the faith visiting the place with equal magnanimity was something which needs to be seen with.

By the time i was wrapping up my camera and bag, the time was mid noon and my stomach  started giving me the bell rings for my lunch.I just put my camera in my bag and proceeded back home with some wonderful memories of a Palace and a Temple beside it.

Travel Tips

Nearest Airport : The nearest Airport is the Bengalore International Airport which is 35 km from the Palace.
Nearest Railway Station : The nearest Railway station is the Yeshwanthpur Railway station which is 7 km from the Palace.

Nearest Bus Stand :The nearest Bus stand is Majestic Bus stand which is some 3 km from the Palace.

Opening and closing time of the Palace : 8.30 am - 5.30 pm

For exclusive photos of this place please visit my Flickr album at

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sujith768/albums/72157672289618112

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