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Continuing our quest at Sathyamangalam, let us dig further…

Further down, I was mislead by thinking the structures were river bunds, in reality they were the other side of the fort walls. The fort is very close to the Bhavani, during monsoon almost touching the walls. One can visualize by imagining a long wall close to the river, with a thickness of about 5 to 6 feet, filled with mud and other construction materials. I am not sure what was the reason, recent land activity or the British, the land facing part of the walls are not present, hence my initial confusion with river bunds. However, one should say thanks to them, since some pottery shreds were found lying embedded in the mud layer sticking out, which I presume to be quite outdated. Not of any importance, but still was happy to be a part of that time.

Figure 3: River bunds or fort wall?

Figure 4: Embedded layer of soil (read as history) in the middle.

Huge granite boulders have been used to fortify the walls with the mixture of lime as a binder that was in vogue in those days. I think the walls run for one and a half kilometer in length, close to the river.

Figure 5: Side profile of the wall

Figure 6: Panoramic shot of the existing wall of Tippu’s fort at Sathyamangalam. On the left most side is the bridge to reach Sathyamangalam on the Bhavani River. The temple next to it is “Bhavanieswarar” Temple. Notice the close proximity of the residences. CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE THE FULL IMAGE, WILL OPEN IN NEW WINDOW

We came to another section of the wall, where there is a small passage made to the river bank, from the outside or from the other bank, this passage is quite hidden from view, looks like a usual wall protrusion.

Figure 7: Passage to river, which is quite invisible from the exterior. (Compare it with Figure 6 and guess where this could have been.)

The water tank used by the people in the fort is also in dilapidated condition. New steps have been constructed and water is pumped using a modern pump. A house owner had tried excavating a part of the tank at the periphery to check for new springs, which has been a futile effort. The bricks used for constructing the tank and the older steps are also visible, but left to nature. My friend was telling me at this point that a siphon kind of system was used from the river so as to have continuous circulation of fresh water, so the level of the tank and the river were at par.

Figure 8: Water tank with the old steps and bricks still visible. Currently used by a motorized water pump for construction and household activities.

Apart from these three places, the temple, the wall, the water tank, none of the other structures remain for us to see. I certainly believe that the recent constructions around this area would have certainly brought out some artifacts (I am not thinking gold or money) associated with this place, while laying foundations and digging wells. How much and what are anyone’s guess. We would never know.

Few years back The Hindu had carried an article about Tippu Sultan and His connection with Sathyamangalam. Mr. S.R.Krishnaswamy had appealed the bridge at Gajjalhatti pass, used for moving the forces of Tippu, for conservation. Since this place is out of town area, and unknown to me before my visit, I couldn’t see it this time. Here’s the link for the article.

http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/01/stories/2005030105690600.htm

After we winded up the visit to the fort I actually started thinking whether people do these kinds of activities with the knowledge of little importance attached to it? Don’t they have the slightest feeling that these are treasures of our next generation, which we have to give back to them with a very big interest accumulated?

Figure 9: Enchanting view of the Bhavani River in the evening, with the Murugan temple in the background on a hillock.
With a heavy heart we proceeded to Shri Venugopalaswamy temple otherwise called as “Periya kovil” by the locals. This has been built in Vijayanagara period and history has it that Tippu’s official money was used to build this temple. Its unique in the way that there is a 100-pillared mandapam before the garbha graham and in one of the pillars the portrait of Tippu sultan has been carved. Again quoting Mr. S. R. Krishnaswamy’s words “”Tipu is depicted with a bare-chested tunic and holds a parrot on his right hand. His left hand folded at the waist and is supported by a staff. The characteristic moustache and turban signify his identity. A local Muslim prays every morning in this temple. Religious harmony of Tipu’s domain has not been found wanting here”. His description fits the figure below:

Figure 10: Tippu Sultan’s relief at the Shri Venugopalaswamy temple.

Even in Tippu sultan’s time, he had donated money for its renovation [Reference 2]. There is an interesting story associated with this temple and the image of Tippu. Rangayya, an officer appointed by Tippu Sultan, utilised the tax money collected for the renovation of the temple without remitting it into the treasury. Fearing punishment, the officer committed suicide by swallowing the diamond from his ring.
However, realising that the money of Tippu Sultan was used for the renovation of the shrine, he arranged to carve the image of the Sultan, as a token of gratitude.
I was informed that the temple was recently renovated, which was clearly seen in many places. I was very deeply saddened to see the blunders in the name of renovation.

Figure 11: Notice the bottom portion of the two pillars, surprisingly with Shiva -linga motif on both of them.

Figure 12: 100-pillared mandapam before the deity

We found two images of Chieftains on the same pillars. However, there was nothing to ascertain whether the relief belongs to the same Rangayya or not.

Figure 13: Relief of chieftains. With their costumes and other details the social status can be judged.

I have no words to describe it. One major blunder was the surya chakram, depicting the Uttarayana and Dakshayana, placed on the floor rather then in the roof. This panel is a bas-relief showing two huge snakes facing each other with a two layered lotus motif in the middle. The first layer has 12 petals denoting the twelve months and the second layer with six petals denoting the six seasons.

The moola murthy is a very charming and pleasing deity of Krishna playing the flute. Right in front of the deity is a small metal door on the floor. Local legend says that this is a door to a secret tunnel that runs from this temple to another Murugan temple situated on a hillock nearby. The purpose of which is not easily understood.

Figure 13: Tunnel entrance

At the end of the day, I had lemon rice as prasadam much sought after by all of us after this brain storming session with history of Sathyamangalam with Tippu Sultan [Reference 3].

Reference:
1. Tipu sultan’s sathyamangalam connection, The Hindu, March 1, 2005
2. The Tipu factor, The Hindu, July 29, 2005
3. Tipu-Biography

About The Author:
Ragothaman M. Yennamalli is a research scholar, completed his Ph.D in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Apart from Scientific interests, he is a student of bharatanatyam in kalakshetra bani. He also paints occasionally in his free time. He is currently enjoying his stay at Chennai before his next venture at Iowa State University, Iowa.

Almost all would be familiar with the serial that came many years back on Doordarshan called “The sword of Tipu sultan”. It was a very nicely conceptualized and executed one, which had its own share of controversies. Although the present generation might have watched it or read about Tippu sultan in their history books. Very few know that Tippu sultan has a connection with the present Tamilnadu also. Here’s where the sleepy town of Sathyamangalam comes into picture.

Whenever I mention the name Sathyamangalam to anybody, the next word that spits out of his or her mouths is Veerappan. I am quite bemused by that, though he is responsible for making this place quite famous. At the moment he is history, but there is more history attached to Sathyamangalam then Veerappan. That’s the purpose of this travelogue.

I had an opportunity to visit Mr. Dhamodaran, my friend from JNU, at his home in Sathyamangalam in 2007. On the way, while crossing the Bhavani River, I asked him what those ruins are and he answered me that these were the ruins of Tippu Sultan’s fort. It caught my attention immediately and was very curious to visit this place. I got the moment only now in 2009 when I visited this place again, to meet my friend and his family before I leave for the US.

This time I already requested him to take me this place. His family also came with us as an escape from the torture of power cut at home. At the behest, I would like to say that I was not expecting much from this visit. There are no entrances remaining as of now. So we took the road that lead us to our destination and was surprised to see many newly constructed houses throughout the area. My host’s dad mentioned that the fort complex is about 25 acres in area. In which almost 90% of the place are currently in private hands as residences. We visited a small temple within this complex called “Kotai Muneeswaran” temple for the deity protecting the fort. It is basically under a huge (my extended wide angle was not enough to capture it from a normal distance) peepal (Arasa maram) tree and quite well maintained. A remnant of the fort has been incorporated at one part of the complex. A roof beam having two damsels holding creepers, which has been heavily whitewashed and the subtle features have all been disappeared.

Figure 1a: Supposedly a roof panel heavily plastered with lime, still showing the elegant beauty of the damsels facing each other.

Figure 1b: The big “Arasa maram” under which is the Kotai Munneswaran temple.

From there we proceeded to what was supposed to be the entrance for the fort on the eastern direction. I was quite disappointed to see nothing but fields. The “Kodimaram” spot has been converted into a field at the moment. According to Mr. S.R.Krishnaswamy, a Tippu sultan chronicler, the British had destroyed the establishments of Tippu sultan once he was defeated. Quoting him “After the fall of Srirangapatna in May 1799, the Britishers destroyed the vital forts of Sathyamangalam, Danaickenkottai and Gajalhatti to wreck the nerve-line of provisions to and from Mysore” [Reference 1]. We saw a room that was used for storing gunpowder, which the locals call as “Poora Koondu” or pigeon cage. One can still see the small bricks used for the construction.

Figure 2: Poora Koondu. Notice the recent construction just behind it.

The Next part on the same series we will dig more about this place…

About The Author:
Ragothaman M. Yennamalli is a research scholar, completed his Ph.D in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Apart from Scientific interests, he is a student of bharatanatyam in kalakshetra bani. He also paints occasionally in his free time. He is currently enjoying his stay at Chennai before his next venture at Iowa State University, Iowa.