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Odisha Part 6: The Yogini Temple of Hirapur

I fell in love with this temple the first time I set eyes on it. Back in 2017 , I had been excited to see yet another Yogini temple, when I visited Puri. The resort I was staying at (and writing for), had arranged for a car and driver to take me around. The driver was happy to take me to most of the places I wanted to go, but when it came to Hirapur, he was appalled. He knew of the temple, but had never been there. It was a tantric temple, one not visited by women, and certainly not women travelling alone. He tried to convince me not to go, but my stubbornness and persistence paid off, and he reluctantly agreed when I told him that if he didn’t take me, I would find another driver who would. All along the way, he kept going on about the sinister things that happened at the temple, the tantric rituals that were performed at night…. An Odisha brahmin who took his religious duties very seriously, to the extent of stopping the car to perform the sandhyavandam when he deemed it time, he...
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Dungeons of Srirangapatna

Where there is a fort, there usually are dungeons. Except, that these days we rarely get to see any. Which is why, when we saw a Karnataka Tourism board proclaiming the presence of two dungeons in Srirangapatna, Samhith was all agog with anticipation. The first dungeon, as it turned out, was very near the Ranganathaswamy Temple. The Colonel Bailey’s dungeon, as it is called, is where Colonel Bailey was held captive during the Second Mysore War, by Tipu Sultan.




The dungeon is not easily visible, concealed as it is by the remnants of the fort bastion. 





This section is called Sultan’s Battery – where the cannons were deployed, and right in the centre, there is one cannon, which, during the war, fell through the wall, and is said to be lying here ever since! You can see the section of the ceiling which has caved in.





However, most interesting, at least to my 10 year old war obsessed kid, was this….



His imagination ran wild at the thought of all the British soldiers chained to the walls!

The second dungeon on the list is called Thomas Inman’s dungeon. Unlike the first one, this is named, not for someone who died here, but for the one who discovered it. It is believed that this dungeon was used by Tipu Sultan to imprison Marathas and other prisoners of war. The auto driver we had hired was hesitant to take us there, but when we insisted, he managed to get directions. All we got to see, however, was this….



The board announcing the presence of the dungeons.

The area around looked something like this…



And try as we might, we weren’t able to find our way inside! Someone we talked to later suggested that the entry might have been closed for maintenance work, since the palace was also closed around that time, but we weren’t able to confirm it. It was a disappointment though, to have missed out on another dungeon!


For more information about these dungeons, check out these links...


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Location: Srirangapatna, Karnataka, India

Comments

  1. R Niranjan DasJanuary 17, 2014 at 1:46 PM

    The dungeons still create a feel of fear as you go down the steps. It quite well maintained too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 17, 2014 at 3:50 PM

      Well, we visited in May, it was hot, and the place was filled with people, so actually there was nothing scary about it. but i can imagine it would be if there was less of a crowd... well maintained. yes it is.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJuly 24, 2022 at 11:46 PM

      At the time we visit, there were only we 2 friends.
      And yes the pit hole in the left corner it really looks scary 😱 we tried to go near it but because of fear we couldn't dare to.

      Delete
  2. click group of companiesJanuary 17, 2014 at 2:02 PM

    srirangpatnam has such divine and beautiful temples and scenic beauty. thanks for sahring the images they are so eye glittering.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shrinidhi HandeJanuary 19, 2014 at 8:38 AM

    Really historic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 20, 2014 at 8:31 AM

      yes, Shrinidhi.. the whole of Srirangapatna seems to be filled with such interesting and historic sites.

      Delete
  4. cubic zirconia swarovski chinaJanuary 22, 2014 at 4:57 PM

    It is a informative post , thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ushnish GhoshJanuary 27, 2014 at 6:11 PM

    Dear Anuradha
    Just chanced upon your blog while hopping at a friend's blog ..wonderful I must say . So much things to know and definitiely not possible to see all the places ..so I am an armchair traveler ..Let me see what all you have here for me
    have a nice week

    ReplyDelete
  6. A Homemaker's UtopiaJanuary 29, 2014 at 9:02 AM

    Beautiful pictures..A great blog :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hearts & Arrows cut Cubic ZirconiaFebruary 11, 2014 at 2:27 PM

    I like your post very much...

    Thanks for sharing this wonderful post, It is awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownJuly 9, 2017 at 2:33 PM

    Dear anuradha,
    Beautiful picture ,I like ur post.thanks for sharing ths amazing post
    It's a informative post and really historic

    ReplyDelete

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