Shrirangapatnam

Demolished fortress city just outside the
city of Mysore in the state of Karnataka.
Shrirangapatnam formerly served as the
capital of Tipu Sultan (r. 1782–1799), the
last ruler of Mysore. Throughout his
reign he fought against the encroachment of outside powers. However, in
1799 he unsuccessfully took up arms
against the British and was killed in battle, leaving the city largely destroyed.
The city got its name from a temple
there to the god Ranganatha, a form of
Vishnu in which he is sleeping on his
serpent couch Shesha in the sea of cosmic dissolution (pralaya). The temple
survived the demolition and is still functioning today. Ranganatha is considered
a divine king, and his most famous
image, on the island of Shrirangam in
Tamil Nadu, has strong associations
with southern Indian kings and kingship. Even though Tipu was a Muslim,
invoking Ranganatha’s powerful symbolism would have been an astute political move, to legitimate his rule in the
eyes of his Hindu subjects.