Thematic Trips: Following the Cauvery river

While there are some really huge rivers in north India, such as Indus, Jhelum, Chenab and Beas, south India does not have perennial rivers or those with high volume of water all year long. Cauvery river is one such important river to both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Let’s take a tour of the river starting from its source at Tala Kaveri upto the point where it joins the sea — at two different places!

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History Revisited: Reliving Tipu Sultan’s life at Srirangapattana, Karnataka

The Cauvery river flows to the north of Mysuru. Across the river on the northern bank is Mandya district. Between Mysuru and Mandya, inside the river itself, is the island town of Srirangapattana. The town itself is named after Sri Ranganatha Swamy, the chief deity of the town and a revered place for south India’s Vishnu-worshipping Iyengar sect among Brahmins. The name of the town can be broken into Sri Ranga Pattana, which in Sanskrit and Kannada means, ‘the city of Lord Ranga’. However, the rest of the town has relics and stories from another topic belonging to another religion. The majority of tourists visit Srirangapattana to relive the story of one of India’s fiercest warriors against British colonisation: The Muslim ruler Tipu Sultan. While there are equally impressive stories about the valour of Sultan Hyder Ali, it’s his son Tipu who takes centre stage in the island town.

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