Mysore Regional History, Culture and Traditions

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Mysore has a long and unique history, tangible and intangible heritage as also cultural traditions of its own. It is further augmented by its location in the vicinity of River Cauvery and its subsidiaries such as Hemavati, Shimsha, Suvarnamukhi, Arkavathi, etc. These rivers contributed to the evolution of cultures, continuously from prehistoric period to the modern times, making the region the cradle powerful kingdoms and cultures. Its composite, inclusive culture and peaceful co-existence are the hallmark from the ancient times through to the present day. With its historical monuments ranging from beautiful temples, excavated remains to glorious Islamic monuments, vernacular architecture to the imperial British structures, Mysore is an attractive tourist destination too.

What started off as a casual discussion among us on the subject evolved in to serious academic exercise over the period of four years resulting in publication of this book. We have sincerely attempted to cover regional history, museum objects, art and cultural traditions. We have also tried to make it well illustrated.

We hope the book will be useful for the serious researchers, students and equally for the tourists as well.

M. Nambirajan (b. 1963) obtained his Masters degree in Archaeology from the University of Madras and Ph.D. from the Karnatak University, Dharwar. He joined Archaeological Survey of India in 1987 as an Assistant Archaeologist and rose to the position of Joint Director General. He worked in various parts of India in different capacities. He is vastly experienced in field archaeology, museums, structural conservation, and antiquities. His publications include Coastal Archaeology of Western India, Bekal Excavations, Kerala Murals, etc.

V. Shivananda (b. 1954), got his M.A. degree in Ancient Indian History and Epigraphy of the Karnatak University. He did his postgraduate Diploma in Archaeology from the School of Archaeology, A.S.I., Delhi (1975-76). He joined the Archaeological Survey of India as Technical Assistant and worked in different capacities in several places. He has participated in several excavations conducted by ASI. He has visited Greece, Italy and Portugal as part of cultural exchange programmes. He has to his credit many research publications and books. He retired from service as Regional Director in 2014.

La. Na. Swamy (b. 1962) got his M.A. (1986) and Ph.D. (1994) in Ancient History and Archaeology. He worked in several institutions and served as a lecturer in History at many reputed colleges. He also served as a Special Officer in the State Department of Archaeology and Museums in Karnataka and as the visiting Professor in the Department of Maritime Studies and Research University of Calicut, Kerala, in 2010. His contribution to the CSIR-Tamil University national project titled "Maritime History of India," is significant. He has more than 200 research articles and thirty publications to his credit.

Mysore has a long and unique history, tangible and intangible heritage as also cultural traditions of its own. It is further augmented by its location in the vicinity of River Cauvery and its subsidiaries such as Hemavati, Shimsha, Suvarnamukhi, Arkavathi, etc. These rivers contributed to the evolution of cultures, continuously from prehistoric period to the modern times, making the region the cradle powerful kingdoms and cultures. Its composite, inclusive culture and peaceful co existence are the hallmark from the ancient times through to the present day. With its historical monuments ranging from beautiful temples, excavated remains to glorious Islamic monuments, vernacular architecture to the imperial British structures, Mysore is an attractive tourist destination too.

Although large number of publications are available on the history, culture and other aspects of Mysore, no comprehensive publication is available covering history, cultural traditions and art of Mysore region. What started off as a casual discussion among us on the subject evolved in to serious academic exercise over the period of four years resulting in publication of this book. We have sincerely attempted to cover regional history, museum objects, art and cultural traditions. We have also tried to make it well illustrated.

We hope the book will be useful for the serious researchers, students and equally for the tourists as well.

In South India there are numerous temple town some are especially well known, as for e.g. Tanjavur, Madurai, etc. It is true that as a matter of rule, in ancient days in almost every town or village there was a temple. Of those many are architecturally very magnificent got built in stone generally by merchants, officials, town/village organizations, individuals and rarely kings. Of such temples one is for Sri Ranganatha, in Sri Ranga Pattana got built by Raja Wodeyar. The temple came to be known after the name of the deity installed. Sri Ranganatha temple is located on the bank of the River Kaveri. Shri Ranga Pattana, as the very name implies, is one of the very well- known temple towns in South India.

Hindus, on annual festival days take a dip in the river and perform religious rites. Gauthama, a great religious rishis of the past, is believed to have consecrated Shri Ranganatha one of the forms of Vishnu. By and by. His worship by devotees became more popular especially during the Vijayanagara period. This sacred place thus gradually rose to a prominent religious center. Pilgrims in numbers visit the place and offer worship. Also, politically, it gained importance under Wodeyars rule and became the capital of the region. The capital, enjoyed the status up to the end of eighteenth century, under the Wodeyars. Haidar Ali, a horse man, under Nanjarajaiah, the Dalvoy and gradually usurped power extended the area of the kingdom and attained higher position eventually, of Sarvadhikari and the ruling King Krishna Raja Wodeyar III remained a nominal head of the state. His son Tipu succeeded, assuming the royal title Sultan, proclaimed himself a supreme head.

Culturally, the book deals with the system of coinage, of the period of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. In particular, Tipu Sultan planned to popularize and expand beyond Karnataka as far a west as Turkey. He was spreading Islam all over the kingdom and even beyond. Incidentally, it opened way for trade and commerce. Tipu Sultan fought many wars particularly with the Marathas and the English. In his 4th English war he died. The victorious English captured the kingdom and Krishna Raja Wodeyar III the original king was restored to his position. Since then, the Wodeyar dynasty continued to rule up to the Bharata got Her Independence.

The genealogical presentation of history of the Wodeyar dynasty is thus briefly narrated in a lucid style by M. Nambirajan, V. Shivananda and La.Na. Swamy. The authors obviously have good command over the narration. The scattered materials relating to the matter are well knit into an interesting narration and presented here so that even a general reader can understand Wodeyar's history easily. The authors deserve to be congratulated for their valuable contribution to the History of Karnataka.