Srirangapatna is a town in the Mandya district of Karnataka. Located near the city of Mysore, it is of religious, cultural and historic importance. In the 18th century, it used to be the capital of Mysore. The monuments of Srirangapatna has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is 15km from Mysore and is an island town enclosed by river Kaveri.
Setting out for Srirangapatna
We booked our stay in Amblee Holiday Resort which is situated right on the banks of river Kaveri. It is an excellent river side resort with a very pocket friendly budget, perfect for a weekend getaway. The view from the rooms is absolutely breath-taking. It's almost like having a private river (Kaveri). You can sit with your legs dipped in the Kaveri waters and enjoy the stream flowing past.
After reaching the resort, we freshened up, grabbed some food and started exploring the nearby places. There are quite a few places of interest that can be seen there.
Balmuri waterfall is not a natural one, it’s a man-made waterfall that is caused due to a check dam built across the River Kaveri. When the water overflows the check dam, it forms a long and lovely cascade. The waterfall derives its name from the right turn that the river takes near the site. Bala means right and Muri means curve in the Kannada language. So, the name Balmuri is a combination of the two words, Bala and Muri. At Balmuri Falls, the water cascades down from a height of six feet. The breath - taking view won't disappoint you. It is a paradise for photographers and many of the Kannada films are shot here. These falls have also featured in the movie Raja Hindustani.
It is one of the five important pilgrimage sites of Sri Vaishnavism along the river Kaveri for devotees of Ranganatha. It is architecturally elegant and has inscriptions which reveals it was first consecrated in 984 A.D.
It is one of the famous historical monuments set amidst beautiful gardens built by Tipu Sultan. Popularly known as Tipu Sultan's summer palace, it has been turned into a museum. The first floor houses the paintings, sketches, and drawings along with block prints and Tipu Sultan’s clothes. The most striking feature of the building is that the entire space on the walls and the roof, pillars, canopies and arches are painted artistically. The outer walls depict battle scenes and portraits and the interior walls are decorated with scrolls of thin foliage and floral pattern. The paintings on the western wall emphasise the glorious victory of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan over the English contingent led by Colonel Bailey in 1780.
There are quite a few other places to visit like Gumbaz, Obelisk, Garrison cemetery, Srirangapatna fort and many more. We could visit only a few as we had visited for a day. I would recommend to stay there for 2 days, to enjoy the resort ambience and enjoy the serenity and calmness along the Kaveri water as well as explore the historical places around.
We started from Bangalore on a Sunday by road around 7am and reached Srirangapatna by 11am. On our way we stopped to have tea and breakfast. There are 6 direct trains from Bangalore going to Srirangapatna station (Station code: S). Also, it is a very nice drive from Bangalore on the Bangalore-Mysore Highway. You can even board a bus going to Mysore and stop at Srirangapatna town.