Daria Daulat Bagh which means ‘Garden of the Sea of Wealth’ is a palace made mostly of teak-wood at Srirangapatna. This palace was the Summer Palace of Tipu Sultan. This palace was built by Tipu Sultan in 1784. He ruled the Mysore Kingdom from here and Lal Mahal, the main palace. There is a beautiful garden around the palace.

Daria Daulat Bagh or Garden of the Sea of Wealth

Daria Daulat Bagh palace is made in the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. It stands on a raised platform in a rectangular shape. Open corridors are there on the four sides of the palace. Mysore paintings add to the beauty of the arches, canopies, pillars, and walls of the palace. Battle scenes and portraits can be found on the outer walls.  On the western wall, you can find the painting that depicts the victory of Haider Ali and his son Tippu Sultan over the East India Company in the Battle of Pollilur near Kanchipuram in 1780.

Srirangapatna and Mysore princely state

Srirangapatna was the capital of erstwhile Mysore princely state for a few decades (1760 to 1799), in the second half of the 18th century, under Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. Haider Ali was the commanders-in-chief of Wodeyars. Haider Ali made himself the de-facto ruler of Mysore. Wodeyars, the then Kings of Mysore, we’re unable to do anything much against this. Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan fought many wars with other neighboring kingdoms and were successful in adding new areas to their kingdom.

This city is the place where the “Battle of Seringapatam” was unfolded between Tipu Sultan on one side and the combined forces of Nizam of Hyderabad along with the East India Company, on the other side. Tipu Sultan or the “Tiger of Mysore” was killed in this battle.

The Kingdom of Mysore was one of the largest kingdoms in India, even after the death of the Tipu sultan. Wodeyars took back the control of their lost kingdom and ruled the kingdom till the middle of the last century until it became part of India.

Near to the Garden of the Sea of Wealth palace, you can find the fort ruins. It is inside this fort that Tipu Sultan was killed. Tipu Sultan was believed to be betrayed by one of his confidants. There is a memorial at the spot where Tipu Sultan was killed.

Lal Mahal Palace ruins can also be seen inside the fort premises.

Looting of Tipu Sultan’s Wealth and other Items

All of Tipu Sultan’s wealth and even his personal belongings were looted after his death and many found their way to Britain. Victoria and Albert Museum and British Royal Collection contain many of those looted items.

Some of those looted royal belongings of the Tipu sultan found their way back to India after legal battles and some others at auctions.  Tipu’s sword has been acquired by Vijay Mallya, in the last decade or so in an auction. The current location of this sword is not revealed publicly.

A UK court was told that Vijay Mallya ‘gave away’ Tipu Sultan’s sword, as it was bringing him bad luck.

Sahebzada Mansoor Ali Tipu, the seventh-generation successor of Tipu Sultan, claimed that the family has tried to purchase it from Mallya.

Tipu Sultan Museum

There is a small museum called Tipu Sultan Museum, on the top floor of the Daria Daulat Palace. It has a fairly good collection of Tipu memorabilia, paintings, and Persian manuscripts.

“Storming of Srirangapattanam“, which depicts the final fall of Tipu Sultan on 4 May 1799, is there in the museum. It is an oil painting by Sir Robert Ker Porter, painted in the year 1800.

Gumbaz at Srirangapatna (Mausoleum or Tomb of Hyder Ali and Tipu)

Mausoleum or Gumbaz at Srirangapatna contains the tombs of the Royals like Tipu Sultan and his father Hyder Ali. It also contains the grave of tipu Sultan’s mother, Fakr-Un-Nisa. It is situated at the center of a landscaped garden.

Ranganathaswamy temple

Ranganathaswamy temple is a ninth-century world famous temple in the city. It is a Vaishnavite pilgrimage center.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites Application

Many of the historic monuments inside the city of Srirangapatna has been nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the application is pending.

Balmuri and Edmuri Waterfalls (Check Dams)

Balmuri and Edmuri falls are two artificial falls. They are actually Check dams over the River Kaveri.

Water falls from a height of 6-feet at Balmuri. You may walk over the ankle-deep water on the check dam, if you are adventurous. Many song sequences in Kannada and Hindi movies were shot here. Balmuri means ‘to curve right’ in the local language, Kannada. The River Kaveri, turns right here.

Edmuri Waterfall is a distance of around 500 feet from Balmuri falls.

These falls are popular for bathing, bird watching, etc. It is also good for photography, wading through the waters here. They are located near the Palace, on the Krishna Raja Sagara main road.

How Do I Go to Daria Daulat Bagh?

Daria Daulat Bagh is situated at Shrirangapattana, an island town around 14 kilometers from Mysore city.  (Mysore was renamed as Mysuru, recently. ) The historic and religiously important Srirangapatna city is surrounded by the river Kaveri, a major river in South India. Srirangapatna is in the Mandya district.

Srirangapatna town is on the NH 275 (Bangalore – Mysore – Madikeri – Bantwal).

There are frequent train services to this island town.

Mysore airport is the nearest airport to Srirangapatna town, at around 15 kilometers distance.