With Tipu Jayanti just around the corner (Nov. 10), there has been a steady stream of visitors to the graves of Tipu Sultan and his family members at Srirangapatna, in Mandya district. This is in spite of protests in other parts of the State over the State government celebrating his birth anniversary.
Tipu Sultan, the legendary ruler of Mysuru, fell fighting the British in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at Srirangapatna (old Seringapatam) on May 4, 1799. The ‘Tiger of Mysore’ was laid to rest at Gumbaz next to his father Hyder Ali and mother Fakr-un-Nisa.
The Gumbaz, a ticket-free tourist destination, has around 100 graves of the members of the Tipu family, and of those who served at his palace and his military. Prominent among the graves are: Tipu’s wife Bibi Ruqya Begum, some of his sons, including Nizam Uddin, Tipu’s daughter Fathima Begum, and son-in-law Nawab Syed Shahbaaz Saheb.
The average turnout of visitors to the Gumbaz is between 300 and 700 a day. But in the last few weeks— following the heated debate over the government sponsoring the birth anniversary celebrations — the number has grown to 2,200 tourists every day, tourist officials at the Gumbaz told The Hindu.
Mohammad Mukhram, a volunteer at the Gumbaz also felt that the debate over the celebrations may have triggered the increase in footfall, especially from outside the State.
“This is our sixth annual educational trip to Srirangapatna and Mysuru. We had never thought of visiting the Gumbaz earlier. We came to know about the graves of Tipu and family only through the local guides,” Jacinta Jacob, a private school teacher from Thrissur, Kerala, who was at the site, said.
Irfan Pasha, a local guide, said he had not been encouraging tourists to visit the Gumbaz as it was “a ticket-free destination and a place to offer namaz”. But ever since the violence that claimed two “innocent” lives in Kodagu during Tipu Jayanti celebrations there in 2015, the guides have been taking the visitors to the spot.